Battlers taken for costly ride
MORE than two dozen vulnerable ”battlers” were taken on an expensive ride by a Gold Coast man running a first homebuyer scheme.
Kent Paul Scarborough of Burleigh Waters had nothing to say to the 27 people he took more than $97,000 from when he rushed from Southport Magistrates Court into a waiting car yesterday.
His victims, who believed they had discovered a way to enter the housing market, included a South Sudanese refugee, immigrants, a disabled student and Centrelink recipients.
Scarborough, 53, pleaded guilty to 27 counts of making false or misleading representations in breach of consumer law over 12 months from about March 2016.
In summing up, Magistrate Jane Bentley said Scarborough thought “he was doing these people a favour” by running a “philanthropic home deposit scheme” that “wasn’t realistic”.
Ms Bentley said “numerous charges were discontinued” leading to a “timely” plea.
“The charges relate to the marketing of the sale of a home deposit certificate,” she said. “You were the sole director of two companies which both used a business name of Noble and Cormack.
“Through that business you sold these certificates to your customers. They were required to pay sums of money in return and then received a certificate which was stated and they believed to be worth a certain value, usually up to $40,000.
“The certificates were sold to your clients on the basis that they could use that document as a deposit to buy a house-and-land package.
“That was a misrepresentation as the certificates were not accepted by sellers or lenders as a deposit. At the time you say you thought you had an agreement with the builder that the certificates could be used as some kind of recognition these people had some sort of deposit.”
Scarborough operated Brilliant Asset Management Pty Ltd and BAM Finance Pty Ltd, also trading as Noble and Cormack.
Scarborough intended to pass on commission from a builder to customers, said defence barrister Bernard Reilly.
The victims paid amounts ranging from $110 to $10,700.
“Sadly, the people who paid you this money were the type of people who could least afford to lose their money,” Ms Bentley said.
She said the offending was “persistent, deliberate and it seems to me it was cruel”.
Scarborough was fined $50,000 and ordered to pay restitutions of $97,925.
The Office of Fair Trading did not seek costs.
THE OFFENDING WAS PERSISTENT, DELIBERATE AND IT SEEMS TO ME IT WAS CRUEL
MAGISTRATE JANE BENTLEY