Assets frozen but Raptis eyes $16m land deal

A high profile Queensland developer is eyeing a $16m land deal on the Gold Coast despite a huge chunk of his fortune being frozen by the taxman.

Queensland developer Jim Raptis’ problems with the tax man does not seem to be stopping his acquisition activities on the Gold Coast.

Last month, the Australian Taxation Office froze more than $83m worth of assets linked to Raptis, including a Gold Coast waterfront house and luxury vehicle, over alleged tax avoidance issues. The veteran developer — who is also Queensland’s honorary consul of Greece — is fighting the action and the Raptis Group told the ASX that the situation was not relevant to the day-to-day running of the listed entity.

However, it still leaves a question mark over at least one deal, one being the purchase of a large property at 2506 Gold Coast Highway, Mermaid Waters, for $16m.

There are questions over whether Raptis is behind the deal to buy the 6525sq m site which was a Sizzlers and before that part of the site of the Gold Coast’s first cinema complex.

We hear there are more than a few nervous Nellies wondering whether the deal will go through. Raptis, who is behind some of the Coast’s most familiar landmarks, is renowned for his high profile stoushes over the years including the spectacular $1bn collapse of his Raptis Group in 2008. Raptis could not be reached for comment. Watch this space!

FUNNY MONEY

Brisbane ad man Dan Adler is a billionaire many times over. The only problem it’s in worthless Zimbabwean currency.

Adler, whose creative agency called NextThursday celebrates a decade in business next month, has a briefcase full of Zimbabwean cash, including a $100bn note, as pride of place in his Eagle St office. No, not the result of a drug deal gone wrong but a clever direct marketing campaign Adler’s firm did for a trust company.

As part of the campaign, a select group of accountants was sent a mystery code in the mail followed a few days later by the briefcase.

When they used the code to open the briefcase, they found it chock full of the money as well as a business card of the business being promoted. Adler says the idea was to show that money could become worthless if it was not looked after properly. At the time the southern African country had an inflation rate of 363 per cent.

A $10bn Zimbabwean bill.

“We knew accountants ignored advertising so we had to grab their attention,” says Adler. “Sometimes you have to frighten people to get their attention and some accountants were so concerned about receiving a briefcase full of money they were about to call the police.”

Adler says direct advertising works even if it only targets a handful of people.

He recently did some work for Carole Park’s Gannon Fabrication, a small firm that makes refrigeration doors. Adler’s campaign consisted of sending an esky with heat sensitive paper inside to three managers at Woolworths that spruiked the benefits of the firm’s fridges.

The company, owned by Chris and Shelley Gannon, now has more work from the retailer than it can handle. It’s not surprising Adler and his NextThursday team are up for several Brisbane Advertising and Design Club awards this Saturday.

TOP TIP

Who says economists know nothing about horse racing. Morgans economist Michael Knox was on the money when he backed an each way bet on Verry Elleegant in yesterday’s Melbourne Cup. Knox’s system allocated points to each horse based on the number of tips they received. He then multiplied the points by their odds to generate value points.

On that basis, Verry Elleegant received 170 points. Knox also tipped Spanish Mission as the third placed horse with 142.5 points.

Verry Elleegant after winning the Melbourne Cup.