Accused $45m fraudster Geoffrey Cassidy’s luxury yacht frozen by Brisbane court

A $4.5 million luxury motor yacht, once owned by a high-flying Gold Coast businessman accused of a $42 million fraud, has been frozen by a Brisbane court after the FBI sought ‘urgent help’ in its case against the man.

The Maritimo M70 Dragon Pearl has been frozen by authorities

A $4.5 million luxury motor yacht, once owned by a Gold Coast businessman accused of a $42 million fraud involving a Hollywood studio behind famous films, has been frozen by a Brisbane court on evidence given by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The 70-foot Maritimo M70 named Dragon Pearl, which is moored at Hope Harbour Marina, was allegedly purchased in part with cash from a Hollywood production company which had hits with 1990’s movies Die Hard with a Vengeance and Evita.

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The boat was frozen by a District Court judge on February 6 after the Australian Federal Police’s criminal assets confiscation taskforce applied to the court, as Australian-recognition of a US order to “seize” the boat made by a Californian judge in January.

The court heard that the US authorities feared the Dragon Pearl could be sailed away from the Hope Harbour Marina if the court order was not made.

The yacht was purchased by Gold Coast businessman Geoffrey Cassidy with some of the $US30m (SU$42m) in company money he allegedly embezzled from his employer, a Singapore-based private jet charter company in partnership with a US company.

Cassidy sold the yacht to a person named Du Yan for $US1 in September 2017, and Du Yan on-sold it for $US1 in June 2018.

Departmental officials wrote that the FBI and a California ­lawyer’s office were investi­gating Cassidy over the alleged defrauding of millions of dollars from charter jet company Zetta Jet, which had offices in Singapore and California

Cassidy, 30, a dual US-Australian citizen, lives in Singapore, was managing director of the private jet charter company Zetta PTE, the court heard.

The company was also based out of Burbank in California and Cassidy was in partnership with US Advanced Air Management, which chartered its fleet of nine jets to the rich and famous in the US and Europe, the court heard.

The company flew the rich and famous around the globe in private jets.

Cassidy was suspended as managing director of Zetta in August 2017 after his US partners alleged he had been faking invoices and account records to embezzle cash.

The court heard that $US249,500 paid to Zetta by Hollywood production company Cinergi Pictures Entertainment Inc, which made Die Hard with a Vengeance and Evita, was used to pay for the third instalment payment for the yacht.

Cassidy is also alleged to have splashed the money on his “extravagant lifestyle” including $SGD329,563 (AU$342,900) on two expensive watches from Richard Mille of Beverly Hills, and US$1m (AU$1.4m) buying and renovating his Singapore home, $SGD$1.3m (AU$1.35m) on credit card purchases, and the Dragon Pearl yacht, court documents state.

The yacht is owned by a company registered in the Marshall Islands, which in turn is owned by a company is registered in the British Virgin Islands wholly owned by Cassidy, the court heard.

The complex ownership structure was allegedly so Cassidy could “conceal his ownership of the yacht”, the US department of Justice (USDOJ) told the court.

The USDOJ criminal division wrote to the Federal Attorney-General’s international crime cooperation department on February 1, seeking “urgent” help to get a warrant to seize the boat, court documents state.

Cassidy claimed in a related Federal Court case heard in Australia that he was entitled to use Zetta cash to buy the Dragon Pearl for his personal use because Zetta owed him the money, the court heard.

But the USDOJ told the court that “investigation has failed to reveal any evidence to support Cassidy’s claim”.

Cassidy is alleged to have told his boss that he was planning to buy a luxury yacht with money borrowed from a bank, the court heard.

The Dragon Pearl has been at the centre of extensive litigation in Australia, with the Federal Court previously restraining it after an application from Zetta Jet’s US trustee in bankruptcy, Jonathan D. King.

Mr Cassidy has previously denie­d wrongdoing, saying any money Zetta claims he owed should be balanced against money the company owed him.

He has not been charged with any criminal offences.

Originally published as Accused $45m fraudster Geoffrey Cassidy’s luxury yacht frozen by Brisbane court