One of two men accused of defrauding Voyages Indigenous Tourism of $436,500 has charge dropped

One half of a duo accused of defrauding the company who run accommodation at Uluru have had their charges dropped – but their co-accused will be back in court another day. Find out why.

Alice Springs Local Court. Picture: Gera Kazakov

A judge has deemed there is insufficient evidence to take a man accused of allegedly defrauding more than $400k from the parent company of Ayers Rock Resort to trial.

James Edward Parry, 39, and Graham Heaselman, 49, were both accused of defrauding Voyages Indigenous Tourism of $436,500 and were charged with obtaining a benefit by deception in 2023.

Their matters were back in the Alice Springs Local Court on Tuesday before Judge David Woodroffe, both of which were heard separately.

Judge David Woodroffe. Picture: File

After outlining the evidence prosecution had presented to the court, Judge Woodroffe dropped charges against Mr Parry, citing an “insufficiency of evidence” against the accused.

However, Mr Heaselman’s matter will return to court on May 29 after it was adjourned by Judge Woodroffe, who did not drop his charge.

The court heard Mr Parry was accused of submitting 113 fraudulent invoices to Voyages Indigenous Tourism, of which $436,500 was paid by the company.

The fraud is alleged to have occurred in 2017, when co-accused Mr Heaselman commissioned Mr Parry’s company Tristar Alliance Group to provide updated work training and health safety procedures for Voyages, Mr Woodroffe told the court.

From April to August that year, a total of 117 invoices were allegedly sent by Mr Parry to Voyages, 113 of which were paid, the court heard.

It was alleged only two of these invoices resulted in new policies for Voyages, the court heard.

An aerial shot of Ayers Rock Resort with Uluru in the background. Picture: Voyages Tourism Australia

It was then further alleged these policies were copies of existing policies at other companies, the court heard.

At the time, Mr Heaselman was the general manager of health and safety at Voyages.

He was authorised by the Voyages board to undertake a three year work health and safety review, Judge Woodroffe said.

Mr Heaselman was authorised “to engage consultants” and had an expenses limit of up to $10,000 at the time of the alleged offending, Judge Woodroffe said when reading out the statement of alleged facts.

A Voyages spokesperson said Mr Heaselman was no longer employed with the company, which oversees Ayers Rock Resort and other tourism ventures at Uluru.

“As this matter is before the courts, we’re unable to provide further comment,” the spokesperson said.

Judge Woodroffe also made brief mention to a civil trial involving Mr Parry and Tristar in the New South Wales Supreme Court, and said the both parties were concerned “the findings and facts in acquittal are not binding on this court and this application”.

Judge Woodroffe ruled “certain aspects” were relevant when he decided to drop charges against Mr Parry.

Alice Springs Local Court. Picture: Gera Kazakov

Neither appeared in court on Tuesday.

Luke Officer phoned in to appear for Mr Parry, while Mr Heaselman also phoned into the court to represent himself.

Each last had their matter in court in Alice Springs in December last year.

During his brief mention on Tuesday, Mr Heaselman did not enter a plea.

Commonwealth prosecutor Amber Brickling appeared in both matters.

She did not contest the charges being dropped, and sought the May 29 adjournment for Mr Heaselman’s matter.

Judge Woodroffe granted both parties allowance to appear via phone at the next mention.

Originally published as One of two men accused of defrauding Voyages Indigenous Tourism of $436,500 has charge dropped