Claims conman Paul Carter dudded Melbourne charity and developer
He duped two wives and a fiancee out of millions with his elaborate scams, but in a new twist, lying Lothario Paul Carter allegedly pocketed huge sums of cash from a major Melbourne charity group, as well as allegedly dudding a Melbourne developer out of $800k.
Law & Order
Don't miss out on the headlines from Law & Order. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Lothario liar Paul Carter once headed a major Melbourne charity group, which lost hundreds of thousands of dollars under his stewardship.
United Housing Victoria, a publicly funded community housing group associated with the Uniting Church, was pushed to the brink of collapse in 2012, while Carter was CEO.
Insiders allege Carter pocketed huge sums of cash by blowing out budgets.
“It was totally out of control,” one source told the Sunday Herald Sun.
Church officials grew suspicious of the haemorrhaging and ordered an audit of the accounts. It was then that Carter was “let go” without further action.
An insider said the not-for-profit came “very, very close to shutting down”.
It is understood the charity was left with just $16,000 to get from one financial year to the next. Financial records show United Housing Victoria’s total income dropped 85 per cent between 2011 and 2012, to just $36,372.
An insider described Carter as a “leech” who took advantage of the organisation.
“He came in and pulled the wool over our eyes. The church didn’t deserve this,” he said.
Records show Carter was appointed CEO in July 2010.
According to sources, he ran several multimillion-dollar construction jobs that were botched, the worst being Gifford Village, in Croydon North, which provides homes for people with disabilities.
Gary Sponza, a relative of Carter, was hired as a project manager for one of its developments. He claims the church was not informed he was ordered to carry out works above tender.
“We were assured that funds would be approved,” Mr Sponza wrote to the charity.
“I was constantly reminded I would be jeopardising my involvement in millions of dollars’ worth of future work by not meeting deadlines and not being a team player.”
Carter also hired his brother, David, to work for the social housing provider. Sources claim both brothers prepared and approved project tenders and contracts.
“They approved accounts that were not appropriate,” a source said.
Uniting Church of Australia Synod of Victoria and Tasmania Acting Moderator Dan Wootton said the organisation became “concerned” about practices in 2012. After a “major overhaul”, a number of staff were made redundant, Mr Wootton said.
Carter’s employment ceased in March 2012. Debt collectors have been calling in search of him ever since.
TAKEN FOR A RIDE OVER AND CAR
A Melbourne man claims he lost thousands to Paul Carter during construction of his Preston home.
David Danks and his wife claim they handed $17,000 to Carter in 2014, saying he initially came across as a “highly successful builder”.
But suspicions soon arose when Carter kept delaying construction.
Months went by when little was done. Then the architect warned him Carter was a conman.
Mr Danks said he let Carter go after six months.
“We were taken for a ride. Later on we learnt he really wasn’t an honest chap,” he said.
He claimed Carter drew up “shoddy” contracts and did not pay contractors, including the architect.
“Paul Carter is a gifted conman and a man of extremely poor character,” he said. “There was no point trying to get the money back. We just had to cut our losses and let it go.”
There are also allegations Carter conned a major social housing developer in the US.
Last year Carter was employed as the Director of Construction at Vecino Group, based in Missouri.
A former contractor claimed Carter took money from him through an illegitimate contract bid.
The man claimed he was also dudded by Carter on the sale of a Maserati.
“He sold his wife’s Maserati to me … He said he needed the car back and gave me a cheque but there was no money,” the man said.
“Paul ruined my life. He is a troubled guy.”
Carter denied being terminated by Vecino Group for dodgy behaviour when questioned over the claims in Albany last week.
“They restructured and everybody in the office was made redundant,” he said.
CONMAN VANISHED AFTER POCKETING HUGE SUMS
Melbourne developer Harry Ozdemir spent a year trying to claw back hundreds of thousands of dollars he lost after casanova conman Paul Carter vanished halfway through a major construction job.
In the latest twist, the Lothario liar who fooled two wives and a fiancee also allegedly dudded the property developer by submitting dodgy claims.
In 2016, Mr Ozdemir hired Carter as the primary builder for the development of two shops and two apartments in Spotswood.
“He was claiming stuff that hadn’t be done, like $13,000 for floor covering when the windows hadn’t even been installed or $20,000 for an air conditioner that couldn’t go in for months and months,” he said.
Mr Ozdemir said Carter often complained he needed more money to “keep the job moving”.
The property developer claimed at one stage he gave him $30,000 from his own pocket to continue construction.
Then one day, out of the blue, Carter disappeared, leaving behind a half-completed project.
“He just left the country without a trace,” said Mr Ozdemir.
He claims he was left out of pocket by about $800,000.
Mr Ozdemir believes Carter took a substantial amount of the money.
“I know he pocketed it because he wasn’t paying contractors … he didn’t pay the electrician or concreter.”
A Herald Sun investigation revealed over the weekend that Carter, who also used the name Paul Cristallo, had left a trail of destruction after allegedly fleecing former lovers, family members, businesses and a church charity.
Former fiancee Katherine de Bois (not her real surname) dubbed the father-of-four a “monster”, while his third wife Brooklin Carter called for her ex-husband to be “made accountable”.
Carter denied conning anyone but is alleged to have posed as a multi-millionaire developer who drove luxury cars and lured in lovers with fake dating profiles.
Even his elderly mother, Gianna Cristallo, 76, told the Herald Sun she hoped to never lay eyes on her son again.
READ MORE:
MELBOURNE’S CHEATING CASANOVA CONMAN EXPOSED
HEIRESS VICTIM OF TOXIC $2M MARRIAGE CON
CONMAN’S TRAIL OF BROKEN HEARTS, EMPTY WALLETS
Mr Ozdemir reported Carter to police and filed a claim through the Victorian Managed Insurance Authority.
The claim, confirmed by the authority, recovered about $600,000.
But he was still substantially out-of-pocket and had to fork out twice the cost to finish the project, he said.
“Paul is extreme. He went out of his way to get the money,” said Mr Ozdemir.
“He cut a lot of corners to get the building to certain stages to make claims.
“The state that he left it is meant it cost twice as much as it should have to finish.”