Zlatko Mar in court accused of stealing $1.2 million through super fund fraud
A man allegedly defrauded more than a million dollars from Coffs Harbour and Grafton residents using a fake super fund scheme. What we know.
Police & Courts
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A man allegedly stole $1.2 million from people in Coffs Harbour and Grafton using a fraudulent self managed super fund (SMSF).
Zlatko Mar, 57, was charged with 11 counts of dishonestly obtain financial advantage by deception and two counts of larceny as bailee property value (more than $5000).
The court heard Mar jumped from a five-storey building and is now quadriplegic as a result.
Mar appeared via audiovisual link at Coffs Harbour District Court from an assisted care unit in Sydney on February 10.
The court heard he has two full time carers and is bed bound.
No formal pleas have been entered.
Police facts allege the lengths Mar went to legitimise his business.
He moved to Coffs Harbour from Queensland in 2017 with his partner and adopted the fake name ‘Jake Pullman’.
His partner also was given a fake name and the pair registered the business Property Super Pty Ltd, under their daughter’s name on June 13, 2017.
The daughter was treated as a pawn: Signing paperwork, believing it to be a “trust fund”, and “building up her future”, according to documents.
Police allege she had no understanding of, or involvement in the operation.
Property Super was marketed and Mar hired employees who believed they were working in “financial services”.
All the while, Mar held no financial service licence, police will allege.
Mar assumed the title: “NSW Regional Manager” and assigned staff to Coffs Harbour and Grafton shopping centres to canvass – marketing the funds.
Police allege between February 2018 and February 2019, Mar defrauded clients by helping them set up a self managed super fund - and had their super rolled into an account.
Mar advised clients to deposit large amounts of money – in some instances hundreds of thousands – for him to create investment portfolios and purchase properties on their behalf.
Yet, no investments were made for any of the 11 victims, police facts state.
Instead, the funds were allegedly transferred between the Property Super bank account and eight related bank accounts, all controlled by Mar, to be spent or otherwise “misappropriated”.
Police say Mar set up coffee meetings, answered phone calls and used Facebook groups to attract clientele.
His alleged victims were promised incredible returns, saving on home loans for example.
Some people had to sell houses to pay their debts, with one person losing $147,000, police facts state.
Records reveal Mar’s transactions between July, 2017 and March, 2019:
- $1.9 million spent in categories described as other expenditure, purchase of goods and services.
- $677,000 transferred between Property Super account and eight related bank accounts controlled by Mar.
- $177,000 paid to the 11 alleged victims.
- $137,000 withdrawn from automatic teller machines in Coffs Harbour and Nambucca.
- $315,000 transferred to other ‘nominated payees’.
The crown will allege none of the records show expenditure directed to investment related to self managed super funds or on behalf of investors.
Police say no documents seized in their search warrant at Mar’s Rose Ave, Coffs Harbour address, provided evidence of any investments made on behalf of victims.
By 2018, Mar attempted to purchase two blocks of land at North Arm Cove and planned to develop townhouses on one block and a house for himself on the other.
One purchase was completed and Mar engaged with a company to design a block of four townhouses on the land, documents reveal.
From October 2018, former employees and clients began to make reports to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), the Australian Taxation Office and police regarding Property Super’s activities.
In December 2018, ASIC issued a media release warning Coffs Harbour residents to watch out for “super spruikers”.
On February 17, 2019, Mar jumped from the top of a five-storey building.
He was taken to North Sydney Hospital with a critical back injury and is a quadriplegic as a result of the fall.
Facts state one alleged victim called Property Super on February 18 and was told by an automated message that the business was “closed indefinitely due to an unforeseen accident”.
On September 8 2020, police went to the hospital but Mar declined an interview.
The crown will allege Mar appropriated $1,282,980 from his alleged victims.
The court heard Mar can speak and eat but “can’t move his arms or legs”.
“He’s unfit for jail,” Judge Jonathan Priestley said in determining how the matter would proceed.
Judge Priestley requested a psychological report from Long Bay Hospital, assessing how Mar would be accommodated at a correction facility considering his mental and physical injuries.
Mar will face Coffs Harbour District Court on April 5 for mention.
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