Developer debt drama
“ROME was burning” when failed multimillion-dollar developer Bruce Tilley failed to tell American Express he was bankrupt, a court was told.
Instead he and his family continued to rack up more than $32,000 worth of credit card charges on his Amex card between November 2013 and February 2014.
All the money was paid back.
Under Australian law, a person who is bankrupt must declare that to a creditor before obtaining credit.
Tilley, 67, pleaded guilty in the Southport Magistrates Court yesterday to failure to disclose bankruptcy when obtaining credit.
Magistrate John Costanzo discharged Tilley without proceeding to conviction, but placed him on a $5000 good behaviour bond for three years.
The court was told Tilley tried to cancel the credit card in December 2013 but when it was not shut down, continued to use it.
“You knew then not only that you had the facility but that you had the legal obligation to close the facility,” Mr Costanzo said.
He said it was clear no one had suffered any loss because the money had been paid back.
Throughout the sentencing hearing, the court was told how Tilley had gone from being a property developer responsible for close to a billion dollars worth of development on the Gold Coast to penniless in the aftermath of the global financial crisis.
Tilley’s barrister Michael Henry said the banks had revalued Tilley’s property portfolio in the wake of the global financial crisis, bringing his company into downfall.
The banks then reported a breach of the loans.
Soon everything Tilley owned was in the firing line.
“There was a fire sale which did leave some of those creditors out of pocket at the end of the day,” he said.
Mr Henry said Tilley’s financial arrangements had been complicated and it was thought the credit card was in his wife’s name.
The court was told Tilley applied for the credit card in 2002 but did not marry his wife until 2003.
Mr Henry said at the time he was using the credit card in 2013-14, while bankrupt, Tilley was distracted by what was happening with the company.
“Rome was burning all around him at this point,” he said. “He has had to lay off staff of many years.”
Mr Henry said Tilley now did a “modest” amount of consulting work and worked with a charity in Vanuatu.
“He says that is good for his soul,” he said.
Tilley was involved with a company that developed a large number of properties including the Southport Industrial Park.
It was believed debt ran as high as $70 million before the company collapsed.
Tilley was forced to sell off his luxury Hedges Ave home to help pay off the debts.