Natalie Turnour and Stavro D’Amore accused of dealing in proceeds of crime
A Middle Park bikini model and her high-flying businessman fiancee could face jail over an alleged $2.7m money laundering fraud.
Police & Courts
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A high-flying Melbourne businessman and his Instagram bikini model fiancee have been charged over an alleged $2.7m money laundering fraud.
Stavro D’Amore and Natalie Turnour are facing up to 12 years in jail following an Australian Federal Police probe into their alleged dealings in proceeds of crime.
The glamour couple, who got engaged after a grand rooftop proposal in Dubai last month, appeared via video link in Melbourne Magistrates Court on Monday after being charged in October.
Court documents allege Mr D’Amore, 40, and Ms Turnour, 27, “engaged in conduct in relation to money that was proceeds of general crime”.
It is also alleged the Middle Park couple “concealed or disguised the source of the money”.
Mr D’Amore – whose net wealth was once reported at more than $14.5m – has been hit with five charges, including two that relate to transactions of more than $1.2m each just four days apart in April 2021.
He and Ms Turnour are both facing a count of recklessly dealing in proceeds of crime valued at $196,750 in Sydney on April 6, 2021.
Ms Turnour, a mother of three and personal trainer who has more than 86,000 followers on Instagram, has a second charge relating to $7500 on that same day.
No further details about the circumstances of the allegations against the pair were aired in court.
Mr D’Amore’s lawyer Steve Parker successfully requested a month-long adjournment as he had only just taken on the case.
“It’s quite an in depth matter — I would need a week to get on top of it,” Mr Parker said.
Neither of the couple have indicated if they will plead guilty or not guilty to the charges.
In 2019, Mr D’Amore, whose car collection included McLaren supercars, Porsches and Ferraris, made headlines when his Berndale Capital Securities foreign trading company collapsed, owing customers millions of dollars.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission cancelled the Melbourne-based company’s Australian Financial Services licence, and banned Mr D’Amore from providing financial services for six years.
He was not charged with any criminal offence at the time and denied any wrongdoing.
Mr D’Amore, who counts underworld figures Angelo Venditti and Mick Gatto among his friends, often features on Ms Turnour’s social media accounts with photos of the loved-up pair jetsetting around the globe, wining and dining and shopping at fashion designer outlets, Louis Vuitton and Chanel.
The couple will return to court on May 23.
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