Dreamtime Pools saga: Conman lawyer once used company in investment fraud scheme

The company at the centre of the Dreamtime Pools saga was previously used by a conman lawyer as part of a multimillion-dollar investment fraud scheme.

A new twist has emerged in the collapse of Dreamtime Pools.

The company at the centre of the Dreamtime Pools saga was previously used by a conman lawyer as part of a multimillion-dollar investment fraud scheme.

Pools & Spas Pty Ltd collapsed into liquidation in June, owing more than $2m to customers, suppliers and contractors.

But before it was a Bannockburn-based pool company it was registered in Eltham as Rainsford Investments Pty Ltd in September 2002.

The Geelong Advertiser can reveal that Phillip Gregory Spark, a disgraced lawyer who was charged with 170 fraud offences in 2019, was a previous director of the company.

Mr Spark’s alleged offences covered conduct between 2002 and 2011, and the charges were reportedly the result of a seven-year investigation into a fraudulent investment scheme worth between $6.2m and $8.2m.

Not only was Mr Spark a director of the company, but Rainsford Investments was named as one of several investment-management companies allegedly used in the scheme.

Mr Spark was appointed as a director of then-Rainsford Investments in October 2002, and remained so until November 29, 2012, when he declared bankruptcy.

In 2014 he was stripped of his financial services licence and banned from providing advice.

Mr Spark who lived in Queensland since 2011, died in 2022 shortly after indicating he would plead guilty to 25 of the offences.

Doug Constable, Pools & Spas Pty Ltd’s current director, was appointed director on December 2, 2012, just three days after Mr Spark’s directorship was removed. It is not the only company that linked the two men.

In December 2021, the company changed its name to Pools & Spas Pty Ltd.

The Geelong Advertiser is not suggesting Mr Constable was involved in Mr Spark’s scheme.

When asked about whether he had a relationship with Mr Spark, Mr Constable said he didn’t know Mr Spark and had never met him.

It is understood that Mr Constable has historically purchased “shelf companies”, like Rainsford Investments.

Mr Constable is currently also the director of Pool Brokers (Australia) Pty Ltd, another company that Mr Spark was a former director of, between 2006 and 2007.

Pool Brokers (Australia) was called M & S Acquisitions from its registration in 2003 until 2021.

The company also briefly traded as Dreamtime Pools Victoria for around three months that year.

Both men have also been directors of a defunct company called Strathville Holdings, which was registered in November 2000.

Mr Spark was a director of the company between January 2001 and July 2005, and again from 2007 until 2012.

Mr Constable was director of the company from March 2020 until it was deregistered in April 2021.

Originally published as Dreamtime Pools saga: Conman lawyer once used company in investment fraud scheme