Fear for tax fraudster
Businessman and wife in hospital
A GOLD COAST businessman convicted of a multimillion-dollar tax fraud and his wife were last night rushed to hospital after what appeared to be a failed suicide attempt.
Michael John Issakidis, 73, was found guilty this year of an elaborate $68 million tax evasion racket and was due to attend his sentencing hearing in Sydney yesterday.
When he failed to front court, police visited his Sovereign Islands mansion and had to call in a locksmith to access the heavily-secured home. They are believed to have found Issakidis and his wife Donrecka unconscious in a vehicle in the garage.
Paramedics were called to the home about 5.15pm and rushed the Issakidis’ to Gold Coast University Hospital. Detectives have been called in to investigate.
Mr and Mrs Issakidis were believed to be conscious but in a serious condition.
A jury found Issakidis guilty on June 13 of conspiring to cause loss to the Commonwealth and to dealing with property believing it to be the proceeds of crime.
NSW Supreme Court Justice Ian Harrison yesterday waited four hours before issuing an arrest warrant for Issakidis after the fraudster’s legal team, his brother and the Federal Police all failed to get in touch with him.
“It’s now just past 2pm and Mr Issakidis has still not appeared,” Justice Harrison said. “I can’t help but have some concerns about this and I don’t mean legal concerns.”
Issakidis’ lawyer Paul McGirr said he was concerned about his client, after the no show. “My concerns are unfortunately much more grave as he was always contactable,” Mr McGirr said.
Issakidis’ business partner, Anthony James Dickson, is serving at least nine years for his part in the same scam, involving their company NeuMedix and a web of sham medical patents.
It netted the pair millions, with an opulent collection of waterfront homes and luxury cars among the spoils eventually seized by police.
The scheme involved Canary Islands company Athena, controlled by Dickson, paying low sums for the rights for certain emerging medical technologies. Athena would “sell” the patents to NeuMedix purportedly for hundreds of millions of dollars under sham agreements.
The false purchases showed up as expenses on NeuMedix’s 2007-2010 tax returns. The pair allegedly funnelled $68 million from ANZ trusts through the off-short system before it was repatriated to fund their lifestyles.
Issakidis received more than $15 million from the scheme, and Dickson about $19 million. A hung jury was returned in Issakidis’ June 2016 trial, before the guilty verdict was achieved in a retrial.