Winemaker Brett Snelson had no idea fugitive was hiding out at his luxury Gisborne estate

Prominent winemaker Brett Snelson has revealed he had no idea accused conman Peter Foster was hiding out at his luxury estate.

A prominent winemaker says he had no idea accused conman Peter Foster was staying in a house he had leased.

Foster was last week arrested at a luxury 10-acre home in Gisborne in the Macedon Ranges after six months on the run while on bail.

Brett Snelson said he did know the fugitive and was not aware he had been living for months at the Short Rd property.

“I don’t know of him (Foster) at all,” Mr Snelson said.

Mr Snelson is a winemaker and director at Ainsworth & Snelson Wines and is romantically involved with Tiffany Lamb, the former co-host of TV hit Perfect Match.

Real estate records show the sprawling property entered a new $1200 per week lease agreement in August.

Peter Foster arriving at Brisbane Airport after being extradited from Victoria. Picture: Liam Kidston

The house in Gisborne where Foster has been hiding out.

It emerged last week that Foster allegedly ran a betting operation from the Gisborne home for months before he was detained.

He is facing five counts of fraud, two counts of deal with identification information and one count of using false records in Queensland.

The charges related to an alleged $2m sports betting scam involving bitcoin.

Last week Foster told Melbourne Magistrates’ Court that, as a “proud Queenslander, he would not oppose being extradited to that state.

The court heard he would be transferred to the Sunshine State on the weekend for a scheduled court appearance in Brisbane on Monday.

Australian Federal Police arrested a barefoot Foster at the property last week.

The sprawling property entered a new $1200 a week lease agreement in August.

Foster is accused of using the home to run a betting operation involving Bitcoin.

Winemaker Brett Snelson said he didn’t know Foster and had no idea he was leasing the home.

A Hong Kong investor has accused Foster of trading under the name Bill Dawson to dupe him out of bitcoin worth $2m in a betting scheme.

That man claimed he had celebrated a huge win on Novak Djokovic in the 2020 Australian Open tennis final, only to find the bets were never placed.

Foster had denied this.

He went on to vent his frustration at the police investigation.

“I’m very concerned with the manner in which Queensland police have handled this,” Mr Foster said.

“Not so much just the brutal arrest at Port Douglas, but the fact they have decided to bring these charges when the New South Wales authority discontinued them, and I spent seven months in unlawful custody.”

Foster had been hiding out at a Macedon Ranges property for four months before being arrested on Tuesday.

In May it emerged that his tracking device had stopped sending a signal.

His fugitive status became apparent during a plea hearing in Sydney and resulted in prosecutors withdrawing fraud charged on jurisdictional grounds.

Foster will remain in custody until his next court appearance on January 11.