An Olympic gold medallist and his wife say they’ll “keep fighting” allegations they defrauded a business partner out of almost $2m.
Champion swimmer and former TV presenter Neil Brooks and wife Linda are accused of making dishonest representations about the success of their sports merchandise business in a bid to allegedly induce investors to purchase a stake 15 years ago.
The couple, who now live overseas, each pleaded not guilty in Brisbane Magistrates Court on Wednesday to one count of fraud by dishonestly inducing delivery of money worth more than $30,000
The couple’s defence barrister, Chris Wilson, made a no-case submission following evidence heard in the November committal hearing last year.
However, magistrate Peter Saggers on Wednesday found there was a case against the Brooks and committed the matter for trial to the Brisbane District Court.
“There is evidence sufficient to put both Mr and Mrs Brooks on trial and the inconsistencies of that evidence will be for the jury to resolve,” Mr Saggers said.
The Crown will allege Glenn and Carole Melcheck were induced to invest $1,000,950 into the Brookses’ company Adrenaline, which sold tattoo sports skins, in early 2008.
The two couples had met in December 2007 and again in January and February of 2008 to discuss the business opportunity, the court was told.
The Melchecks signed an initial investment proposal at the end of January.
The court was told this investment proposal was provided to the Melchecks by a mutual acquaintance.
Mr Wilson said his clients had not authorised the investment proposal to be given to the Melchecks, nor did they provide it themselves in person despite Mrs Brooks having it with her at one of the meetings.
A few days later the Melchecks paid a $50,000 deposit before settling the deal in February, the court was told.
The court was told that Mr Melcheck agreed during cross-examination in the November committal hearing that he’d “relied principally” on advice from his accountant to proceed with the business opportunity.
Referring to his questioning during the November committal hearing, Mr Wilson told the court that Mr Melcheck had stated the Brookses were not his primary influence for signing the deal.
The court heard Mr Melcheck had told the committal hearing he’d “relied principally” on his accountant’s advice, but “it wasn’t the only thing I was relying on”.
“A jury cannot find he relied on the Brookses, he relied on his accountant and not on the Brookses,” Mr Wilson said.
“It’s not sufficient evidence a jury could convict on.
“It flies on the face everything he himself has said, it’s invented many years later.
“There’s no evidence they authorised to deliver it themselves, there’s no evidence the parties discussed this document.”
Speaking outside Brisbane Magistrates Court on Wednesday, Mr Brooks said he was disappointed with the outcome but was ready to plead his case before a jury.
“We’d hoped for a better outcome but we’re actually just grateful that we got to submit a no-case submission,” he said.
“The magistrate decided Mr Melcheck’s credibility will need to be decided by a jury, which we welcome and we look forward to.
“It was pretty clear he had to give some serious consideration but we understand the system and we’ll keep pushing on.”
Mr Brooks said he remained “optimistic and totally confident in our defence”.
“The fight continues, nothing so much has changed. It’s disappointing but we’ll move forward,” he said.
“Obviously, 15 years is a long time for anything.
“It’s taking a huge toll emotionally obviously on the family.
“But we stay strong and firm in the belief we knew what happened because we were there.
“I’m not worried about the jury finding us guilty but you always have nagging things in your head that ‘it’s still going, it’s still going’.
“You can’t get concerned about it, you just have to stay positive.
“The stakes are very high and we understand that, which is why we’re fighting so hard.
“Once the truth comes out, we’ll be happy for a jury to make a decision on it.”
More to come.
