Construction boss George Alex granted bail in $17m tax cheating case
Underworld-connected construction identity George Alex has been granted $2 million bail after he allegedly spearheaded a money laundering scheme that stole more than $17 million in unpaid tax.
Police & Courts
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George Alex, the alleged head of a $17 million tax fraud ring, will soon walk free on bail.
The construction boss was arrested in Queensland last month and extradited to Sydney on conspiracy to defraud the Commonwealth and money laundering charges.
The 49-year-old smiled as he was granted $2 million bail at Central Local Court on Friday
and his solicitor said Alex would leave jail “in the coming days”.
“After spending more than two weeks in custody, Mr Alex is looking forward to his release and looks forward to the opportunity to clear his name,” Abbas Soukie told The Daily Telegraph.
“He is entitled to the presumption of innocence.”
Magistrate Margaret Quinn imposed a raft of strict bail conditions on Alex including effective house arrest, which she said would mitigate any flight risk he posed.
The prosecution had argued Alex was well connected to underworld criminal circles including bikie gangs, and had “significant financial means” to flee the country.
The magistrate also noted that Alex had been associated with slain terrorist Khaled Sharrouf and Mohamed Elomar, who he took on a Lithgow shooting trip in November 2013 — weeks before they left Australia to fight for Islamic State in the Middle East.
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Prosecutor Raelene Sharp said Alex may also interfere with witnesses if released, noting that in 2015 he was convicted of sending death threats to his former lover Anna Lee.
But Alex’s lawyer stressed that he had obeyed those court orders, and also fronted court when summoned to appear before the Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance and Corruption that same year.
“He was never charged with anything as a result of that royal commission,” Ms Quinn said.
Last week the sick Surfers Paradise man was held in isolation while on remand at Silverwater prison as a coronavirus precaution, but he appeared via video link on Friday.
Alex‘s wife Nectaria and his sister Athina waited outside court as his barrister argued the labour hire figure had “exceptionally strong” community ties that would stop him from leaving Australia — something he has not done since about 1987.
Craig Smith SC said there have been issues getting Alex’s medication behind bars, as he suffers from chronic ankle pain following a serious 1994 road accident, and also has bipolar disorder.
“He still hasn’t seen a psychiatrist,” Mr Smith said.
Ms Quinn ordered Alex to report twice daily to Marrickville police station and otherwise not leave his aunt’s Earlwood home, while also banning him from leaving NSW.
“And his mother says she’s prepared to supervise him,” the magistrate said.
“If he is foolish enough to talk to (his co-accused) he should be aware that his bail will be revoked.”
Family members will also stump up two significant property assets as a $2 million surety, the court heard.
Ms Quinn found there was a strong circumstantial Crown case against Alex, based on police telephone intercepts and surveillance device material taken over 18 months.
“(But) he’s likely to spend some years in custody if he’s not granted bail,” she said.
Police allege Alex led a complex operation that enlisted financial industry experts and former bankers to divert more than $17 million from the Australian Taxation Office into private bank accounts.
He was nabbed alongside his son as federal police swooped on 21 locations across NSW, Queensland and the ACT.
Officers charged 13 people and restrained $21 million worth of assets including 17 luxury cars, a boat, 64 bank accounts and 14 properties.
Police seized Alex’s waterfront apartment on the Gold Coast and a lavish Sydney mansion in Earlwood worth $2.5 million owned by a company linked to the construction boss.
Police allege the syndicate used legitimate labour hire firms to outsource payroll administration to dodgy companies that paid wages and superannuation correctly, but sent money that should have gone to the ATO off to be laundered instead.
When the tax debt for one of these payroll companies grew too large, the company would be abandoned and a new one formed, police allege.
Police allege $1.5 million was transferred into bank accounts controlled by Caitlin Hall, the wife of jailed drug smuggler Michael Ibrahim.
Alex will next face court next month.