Former SA accountant George John Nowak pleads guilty to fraud
Former SA accountant George John Nowak is in custody after pleading guilty to 18 fraud charges, described in court yesterday as an offence that “struck at the heart of victims’ efforts for financial security”.
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Former SA accountant George John Nowak was remanded in custody on Monday after pleading guilty to 18 fraud charges.
Nowak, 61, of Aldgate, entered his pleas on the charges involving $1.2 million of lost retirement savings on February 19 during the third week of his District Court trial.
Nowak was the founder of the Charterhill group of companies, which was placed under external control in January 2014 as his web of deceit unravelled.
In a statement outside court yesterday, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) said the charges arose from the misappropriation of $1.2 million in superannuation monies.
Prosecutors had alleged Nowak had not held those funds in a designated account and not applied those funds towards the intended purchase of multiple properties.
Nowak pleaded guilty to 17 counts of aggravated deception and 1 count of dishonest dealings with documents.
ASIC said those pleas included a “representative charge that effectively covers six of the deception counts as one”.
ASIC investigated Nowak’s conduct in dealing with members of self-managed superannuation funds, who were undertaking property purchases offered by companies of which he was a director.
Nowak has penned an apology letter received by the court on Monday.
In court, Nowak’s defence said he was a “man who has been in denial for a very long time”.
The plea and apology “indicate he has now decided to take responsibility for his offending…”
“Put simply, he knows that he is facing a lengthy period in gaol.”
However, prosecution said Nowak was driven to plead guilty because of a strong case where the “writing was on the wall” rather than due to general contrition.
“The offending struck at the heart of victims’ efforts for financial security.”
Four entities of the Charterhill Group – Lending Solutions International, Nova Real Estate, EJ Property Developments and Financial Wellness – were placed under external control and Nowak’s assets seized in early 2014.
In July 2014, Mr Nowak declared himself bankrupt.
A year before that, Mr Nowak had been living in a newly-purchased Springfield mansion with a ‘bat-cave’, five bedrooms, a garage, swimming pool, tennis court and views to the city and ocean.
At the time, he claimed to have 3500 mostly ‘mum and dad’ investor clients in SA, Victoria, NSW, Queensland and WA.
Nowak was charged by ASIC in May 2016 with misappropriating $1.8 million in SMSF monies.
The charges of aggravated deception each carry a maximum penalty of 15 years imprisonment and the charge of dishonest dealings with documents carries a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment.
The matter was adjourned to March 19, with Nowak’s bail revoked.