Elie Douna: Illawarra property developer sentenced for $15m loan scam

The Illawarra housing developer behind a nearly $15 million property loan scam has found out his fate after an 18-month court saga. Read how it played out in court.

A disgraced Illawarra property developer has been sentenced for orchestrating a failed $14.7 million loan scam which a magistrate described as being “somewhere in the middle of need and greed”.

Elie Douna, the co-director of LuxLiving Homes, was hit with a 14-month intensive corrections order in Wollongong Local Court on Wednesday after previously pleading guilty to three counts of making a false document to obtain a financial advantage.

Douna, 33, was arrested in February 2021 and charged with 20 counts of publishing false or misleading material to obtain an advantage and one count of participating in a criminal group.

The court had previously heard police allege Douna made up fake potential buyers in an effort to obtain a nearly $15 million loan from Australian Unity Bank Ltd to build a luxury 92-home development, dubbed Avoca Park, in Avondale.

There were a total of 19 contracts written up, however, nine were forged by Douna in an elaborate scam which unfolded between December 2020 and February 2021.

Douna pleaded guilty to the three charges earlier this year, while one count of participating in a criminal group was withdrawn

The guilty plea came only weeks after Elie’s twin brother and LuxLiving co-director, Charbel Douna, had his charges of publishing false and misleading material to gain an advantage withdrawn by the Director of Public Prosecutions.

LuxLiving Homes property developer Elie Douna leaving Wollongong Local Court on Wednesday, September 21, 2022, after being sentenced to a 14-month intensive corrections order for orchestrating a failed $14.7 million scam. Picture: Dylan Arvela

Charbel was also charged with one count of dishonestly obtaining a financial advantage by deception – which was also withdrawn.

In May this year, Albion Park real estate agent Ben Feltham was sentenced for his role in the plot.

Feltham pleaded guilty to the same three publishing false and misleading material to gain advantage charges.

Feltham was slapped with a two-year community corrections order as well as losing his career which Magistrate Claire Girotto said he had “built over 18 years”.

In court on Wednesday, Magistrate Girotto said she “took into account the degree of planning and sophistication” in reaching Elie Douna’s punishment.

Elie Douna (right) and his brother Charbel doing charity work through SWAG Illawarra.

“The Crown prosecutor said it was a case of greed rather than need,” the magistrate said while holding the belief it was “probably somewhere in the middle”.

The magistrate also noted the defence’s argument the scam had been cooked up in order to “expedite the processes during an uncertain time in the [housing] industry” due to Covid-19.

Magistrate Girotto said Elie Douna had come from a “disadvantaged background” and said there was link between that and his “fear of failure”.

The magistrate said she considered ordering Elie Douna to complete a period of community service, however, noted the brothers’ charity work of “helping feed and house the poor” through their SWAG Illawarra not-for-profit.

Elie Douna’s ICO will expire in November, 2023.