Fresh fraud charge
New hit for director of Members Alliance
A KEY Gold Coast figure in the Members Alliance property investment fiasco has been charged with another count of fraud.
The Queensland Police Service (QPS) financial and cyber crimes group accuses Members Alliance director Richard Marlborough of “preclaiming” a further $1 million from clients’ home loans.
Marlborough, 52, of Hope Island, had already been charged with dishonestly inducing victims to deliver $2.2 million into accounts he controlled for the construction of houses in Queensland and NSW.
The QPS has described the activities of Members Alliance as a “large cold-call investment scam”. Thousands of people were phoned out of the blue and encouraged to buy house and land packages as a way to increase wealth and reduce tax.
While many investors’ properties were not completed, their loans were fullydrawn due to pre-claiming. This left them without the right to rely on insurance, the QPS has alleged.
The Queensland Building and Construction Commission, Australian Securities and Investments Commission and QPS have been jointly investigating Members Alliance since March last year.
The initial charge against Marlborough was laid in February after he was arrested at his family’s mansion while getting out of a Bentley. His lawyer said he was defending the accusations.
In early March he and two other Members Alliance group directors – David Domingo and Colin Macvicar – were conjointly charged with dishonestly causing a financial detriment to persons investing in properties.
The three are due to appear in Brisbane Magistrates Court on Monday.
Members Alliance went into liquidation in 2016 and owes creditors more than $40 million.