A Sydney construction boss and four others have been found guilty of dealing with the proceeds of crime, but a jury is still considering whether they jointly agreed to defraud $13 million from the tax office.
Jurors have been deliberating for 16 days after a mammoth fraud trial in which construction boss George Alex, his son Arthur Alex and four others have denied the charges brought against them.
The group allegedly used various strategies over two years, including the use of second-tier "shield" companies, to hide from the Australian Taxation Office over $13 million in pay-as-you-go (PAYG) charges that were deducted from worker pay.
About $125,000 was deducted per week in the latter half of 2018 and well into 2019, the trial was told.
Lesser amounts were allegedly deducted over Christmas 2019 and into 2020 as the construction business became less profitable.
Gordon McAndrew, who was the general manager of the firm's Queensland office, and Lindsay John Kirschberg are accused of sending the net pay to workers without remitting the PAYG to the tax office under instructions from their boss.
Pasquale Loccisano allegedly acted as a go-between or messenger, passing information and directions between George Alex and the others.
Between August 21 and 23, the jury found George Alex, 53, Loccisano, 54, Kirschberg, 65, McAndrew, 62 and a fifth man Mark Ronald Bryers, 66, guilty of either conspiring to deal with or intentionally dealing with proceeds of crime worth more than $1 million.
Bryers has also been found guilty of conspiring to dishonestly cause a loss to the Commonwealth.
Arthur Alex, 26, is free after being acquitted of conspiring to cause a loss and of conspiring to deal or recklessly dealing with the proceeds of crime.
The jury returned to the NSW Supreme Court on Monday, when Justice Desmond Fagan urged them to keep deliberating over the remaining four charges.
Jurors are still considering whether George Alex, Loccisano, Kirschberg and McAndrew formed an agreement to cause a loss to the ATO.
"The four verdicts on which you are not ... in a position of unanimity and therefore not able to deliver verdicts are the bulk of the case," the judge said.
Most of the 64 days of evidence and weeks of submissions by crown prosecutors and defence counsel related to this alleged conspiracy, he said.
After a break for six days, Justice Fagan hoped the jury would be refreshed and have had a chance to mull things over, but he noted he also had the power to discharge them if they could not reach a verdict.
The jury returned with further questions on Monday afternoon, including how much the guilt or innocence of one of the accused would be affected by their misgivings about what was going on.
Justice Fagan said while there was quite a bit of evidence showing Kirschberg and McAndrew had second thoughts about what was going on, this did not override any potential findings that there had been an agreement.
“No one has mounted a case of duress, of being overborne, unable to make an independent decision,” he said.
