Omer Faruk Oztas: tradie facing IBAC charges after VBA probe took out $400k loan weeks before investigators laid charges

The allegedly corrupt tradie at the centre of a probe into the Victorian Building Authority took out a massive loan in the weeks before his alleged bribery racket collapsed.

The Lisa Place, Coolaroo headquarters of Ozzie Homes could be repossessed after its allegedly corrupt landlord, Omer Faruk Oztas, defaulted on the mortgage.

The central figure in the Victorian Building Authority corruption probe took out a massive mortgage against a commercial property in the weeks before his alleged bribery racket collapsed, and defaulted within months.

Omer Faruk Oztas, 31, of Dallas, is facing a string of bribery and public misconduct charges following allegations he acted as a middleman between allegedly corrupt VBA staff and dozens of shonky suburban builders, most of whom were from Melbourne’s northern and western suburbs.

He is yet to enter a plea to the charges, but documents filed in the Supreme Court reveal non-bank lender Orde Financial is moving to repossess a Lisa Place, Coolaroo industrial unit he has owned since 2015.

The unit appears to have been Omer Oztas’s most significant personal asset.

According to documents filed in the Supreme Court, Omer Oztas took out a $400,000 loan, secured against the unit, in June 2024, just as IBAC investigators were finalising their probe.

IBAC laid charges against the first eight of 34 alleged offenders in early August.

The industrial unit has long been occupied by a relative or Omer Oztas, Ozcan Oztas.

Ozcan Oztas 52, of Dallas, used it as the headquarters for his building company, Ozzie Homes.

The criminal proceedings relating to the VBA corruption probe will return to the Melbourne Magistrates Court later this year.

In Supreme Court proceedings seeking repossession of the industrial unit, Orde Financial alleges Omer Oztas defaulted on the mortgage in January this year, two weeks after he was charged by IBAC.

The documents reveal Omer Oztas had not paid off any of the principal and now owes more than $411,00, with interest “continuing to accrue”.

Omer Oztas’s relative and tenant in the industrial unit, Ozcan Oztas is also facing charges stemming from the IBAC probe, as is a third member of the Oztas family, Fatih Oztas, 33, of Dallas.

Fatih Oztas is also known as Frank Oztas.

All three Oztases are accused of facilitating bribes from people seeking building registration to three allegedly corrupt former VBA staff members — Phillip Caccamo, Ben Sano and Iolanda Fazarri — who are in turn accused of accepting the bribes to push through applications for registration.

But it is Omer Oztas whose alleged offending is considered the most prolific and longest-running.

Court documents from the criminal proceedings against him allege his offending began in 2021, and continued until July 2024, just weeks before he was charged.

Omer Oztas, Ozcan Oztas and Fatih Oztas all remain registered as a builder with the VBA despite the allegations against them.

Omer Oztas is yet to file any documents in the Supreme Court matter relating to his mortgage.

All 34 people facing criminal charges stemming from the IBAC building corruption probe will next face court in June.