No jail time for shonky dealing

A CAIRNS man, who received more than $114,000 in secret commissions for failing to disclose his personal connections with several businesses to his employer, has avoided jail time.

Brendan Allan Lyne, 37, was the general manager of David McCoy Homes (DMH), a company owned by Kenfrost Pty Ltd, from 2003 to 2008.

The Cairns District Court yesterday heard that, at the start of 2007, Mr Lyne directed that all lights, fans and airconditioners for new homes be bought from business Lights N More, which he owned with his wife Stacey.

The court heard that “the criminality lay in the fact that he did not disclose to Kenfrost” that he owned the business and his wife was the director.

Crown prosecutor Eddie Coker told the court that Mr Lyne also made an arrangement with Roberto Lorefice, who ran waterproofing business Universal Waterproofing, that he would get paid a 20 per cent commission in exchange for frequent work to Mr Lorefice’s company.

“In total he received $56, 856.44 from Lorefice as (secret) commission,” he said.

The court heard that Mr Lyne and Mr Lorefice also teamed up and created a sham surveying business, where they subcontracted out work to a qualified surveyor as neither of them were qualified.

They would then invoice DMH, “which was over and above what they were being charged” for the work.

“The detriment to DMH/ Kenfrost was $57,551.67,” Mr Coker told the court.

Once Mr Lyne left David McCoy homes in 2008, there was an internal investigation in the company, which resulted in the launch of a $1.2 million civil lawsuit against him in relation to like offending.

Judgment was entered against both Mr Lyne and Mr Lorefice, but claims against Mrs Lyne were dismissed. There’s no suggestion of wrongdoing by Mrs Lyne.

Following the civil action, Mr Lyne was charged with three counts of fraud.

He pleaded guilty to the offences in the Cairns District Court yesterday.

Defence barrister Sam Di Cola said in the past almost 10 years, Mr Lyne had suffered bankruptcy, loss job opportunities and family struggles.

Chief Judge Kerry O’Brien said the circumstances of the offences were “somewhat unusual and different from many which come before the court”.

He said the “true criminality” came from Mr Lyne withholding details from Kenfrost about how he was operating the business.

Chief Judge O’Brien sentenced Mr Lyne to 4½-years prison for each of the three fraud offences to be served concurrently.

The sentence was wholly suspended for five years and no restitution was sought.