A jury heard on Tuesday that secret recordings have captured Sydney construction boss George Alex discussing how to conceal a $13 million tax fraud syndicate from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).
George, his son Arthur Alex, Mark Ronald Bryers, Gordon McAndrew, Lindsay John Kirschberg, and Pasquale Loccisano are now part of a six-month trial in the NSW Supreme Court at Darlinghurst after pleading not guilty to conspiring to cause a loss to the ATO, and dealing with the proceeds of crime totalling $1 million or more from 2018 to 2020.
According to The Sydney Morning Herald, the funds allegedly flowed through various entities in Australia and were also diverted offshore to a couple of companies in Singapore.
Crown prosecutor Chris O’Donnell SC said recordings captured by police phone taps and surveillance devices, indicated Alex “was the person who needed to understand and approve of any future developments” to the scheme.
The jury was played a clip from a phone call between two of the alleged conspirators, Mark Ronald Bryers and Gordon McAndrew, on March 4, 2020.
The prosecutor’s speech is expected to last four days, each of the accused with their own defence barristers before Justice Desmond Fagan.
Source: The Sydney Morning Herald
