Convicted fraudster Craig Gore faces more charges after getting hit with 5 year sentence

A disgraced former Rich Lister could spend more time behind bars if convicted on additional charges.

GORE FACES MORE CHARGES

More grief awaits convicted conman Craig Gore.

The disgraced former Rich Lister and one-time Gold Coast property developer will spend at least the next two years behind bars after being found guilty last month on six counts of defrauding investors out of nearly $350,000 in 2013 and 2014.

He was sentenced to five years, with a non-parole period of two years.

Gore is now appealing that decision on the basis that Brisbane District Court Judge Michael Byrne, who described the crime as “deliberate and targeted,’’ allegedly failed to properly understand key financial documents.

Craig Gore

But the twice-bankrupt bizoid, the son of late Sanctuary Cove developer Mike Gore, now also faces three additional charges of managing corporations even though he was banned from such actions at the time.

Each charge carries a maximum penalty of one year in the iron motel. Gore, who remains permanently barred from the financial services sector, has yet to enter a plea in the matter.

That case, which is separate to the fraud matter, relates to his work at Mogs Pty Ltd, Sleipner Financial Pty Ltd and Arion Financial Pty Ltd on the Gold Coast.

It was at Arion that Gore orchestrated the rip-off of self-managed super fund investors in what he described as a “debenture scheme’’. The court heard the money was never returned to investors and was actually withdrawn within two weeks.

Gore’s appeal stands in marked contrast to comments he made following his arrest in early 2017 on the fraud charges.

“If the courts decide I have crossed the line, I’ll man up and accept that. If that means sustaining a jail term, so be it. That’s part of the journey,’’ he said.

SCHADENFREUDE

Meanwhile, watching Gore’s travails from the sidelines with a certain degree of schadenfreude, is his former helicopter pilot Tom Sutton.

So how’s Sutton feeling about Gore’s conviction and sentence? “I am delighted,’’ he told City Beat this week.

Sutton has been a relentless critic of his former boss since the two fell out 15 years ago.

Over a three-year period to 2005, Sutton was on call 24/7, whisking Gore around during his heyday to V8 Supercar races, development sites and plenty of other spots.

Gore’s former helicopter pilot Tom Sutton.

But after his employment was terminated, Sutton sued for unfair dismissal and won a small payout.

Gore then sued Sutton in 2009 alleging defamation over comments Sutton made to Today Tonight.

It seems supremely ironic now but Gore claimed that the TV show had made him appear “untrustworthy, capable of anything untoward, involved in fraud and unethical business (and) dishonest’’.

The dispute wrapped up two years later, with Sutton making no payment of damages.

JUMPING SHIP

The man who became the public face of the Virgin Australia drama will leave accounting firm Deloitte after 22 years.

Vaughan Strawbridge plans to start work with global restructuring outfit FTI consulting in the middle of next year, taking on the job of senior managing director.

Vaughan Strawbridge is joining FTI Consulting.

Strawbridge gained national prominence this year for his key role in reviving the Brisbane-based carrier after it crashed into administration as a result of the pandemic lockdown.

He helped spearhead the $3.5bn resuscitation of the airline by US private equity player Bain Capital.

Coincidentally, it turns out that FTI counts Bain among its clients.