Construction boss George Alex guilty of $10m tax fraud conspiracy

Construction boss George Alex has been found guilty of conspiring to defraud the tax office out of $10m.

Construction boss George Alex has been guilty of a $10m tax fraud conspiracy. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Simon Bullard.

Construction boss George Alex has been found guilty of conspiring to defraud the tax office out of $10m through his labour-hire firm, closing out a marathon six-month court trial.

After more a month of deliberations, a jury returned a guilty verdict on Tuesday for the 53-year-old and his co-accused Lindsay Kirschberg, Gordon McAndrew, and Peter Loccisano.

The four men were found guilty of conspiring to cause loss and dealing in the proceeds of crime in excess of $1m, joining co-accused Mark Bryers, who was found guilty of the same charges last month.

Construction boss George Alex has been found guilty of a $10m tax fraud conspiracy. Picture: NewsWire / Simon Bullard.

The offences carry a maximum possible sentence of 25 years in prison.

The Australian Federal Police alleged Alex and the other members of the syndicate set up payroll companies for their labour-hire entities to siphon PAYG tax and GST offshore.

The money would then be returned to Australia.

Mr Alex’s son, Arthur Alex was found not guilty of the same charges by a jury earlier this year, while another co-accused, Lucas Connell, pleaded guilty in February to aid, abet, counsel or procure an offence – dishonestly cause a loss.