3 months ago
23
A Perth businessman has told Western Australia’s Supreme Court he sunk $13.5 million into private investments organised by an alleged fraudster.
Private investor Chris Marco is on trial, facing 44 charges after allegedly defrauding investors of about $36.4 million.
Chris Marco makes his way to court through waiting media during the first week of his trial.Credit: 9News Perth
His former executive assistant, Linda Marissen, has been charged with 30 offences for her alleged role in the crimes. Both have pleaded not guilty to all charges.
At the start of the trial’s second week on Monday, prosecutor Steven Whybrow alleged Marco spent years building credibility with his investors, including providing them with generous returns and always returning their principle investment when asked.
However, the state alleged there “were no investments”, and Marco used other investors’ money to pay off his clients when needed.
Loading
Graeme Sansom took to the stand on Monday, told the court he too had built confidence in Marco over the years.
Sansom invested about $13.5 million over the years he worked with Marco, and frequently took home returns of around six figures.
Sansom, a mortgage and finance broker, said he relied on Marco’s integrity to ensure his money was being invested correctly.
“There’d been a record of the previous years of reliable returns and actions where money was returned to us in terms of dividends,” he said.
“That was over four years I think, and we’d built up a level of trust with Marco.”
When asked by Whybrow if he cared where his money was being invested so long as he achieved a return, Sansom said: “Not really, no.”
Marco has previously made an admission to the court before the trial that investor funds were paid into one of his accounts and “mingled with other monies”.
Marco also admitted returns to investors were sometimes sourced from that pool of money.
Sansom told the court on Monday he was not aware his money might be used to pay returns, and, if he had been, he would have been concerned.
“It would indicate that the investments weren’t generating income and were … keeping investors on side,” he said.
Prosecutors have previously claimed Marco also invested some of his money in luxury cars and real estate as collateral.
Marco’s lawyer Luka Maragetic told the court the payments on Sansom’s investments only stopped after intervention from corporate regulator ASIC in 2018.
Sansom agreed he had no reason to doubt Marco’s integrity as he did not solicit his investments, and his returns on investment payments were consistent.
Marissen’s defence lawyer Simon Freitag asked Sansom if he could recall meeting or speaking to the executive assistant.
Sansom said his contact with Marissen was limited.
The court heard Sansom did not recall speaking to Marissen over the phone or in person, “but an ASIC officer has shown me emails I received from her”.
The trial continues.
Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.
Most Viewed in National
Loading
