Aaron Bunch Journalist with Australian Associated Press | Collection of published work | + 61 484 008 119 | abunch@aap.com.au
Trio faces court over retiree housing scheme collapse
Three men involved in the failed Sterling Group housing scheme that left dozens of retirees with huge financial losses have appeared in court.
November 3, 2023
Three men linked to a failed housing scheme that cost dozens of elderly Australians their homes and life savings have appeared in court on criminal charges.
Raymond Jones, founder of the Sterling Group, Simon Bell and Ryan Jones faced the Perth Magistrates Court on Friday.
Raymond Jones, 81, and Bell, 57, are accused of 11 counts of aiding and abetting Sterling Corporate Services to engage in dishonest conduct in relation to a financial product or service.
Ryan Jones, the 52-year-old son of Raymond Jones, was charged with 10 counts of the same offence.
No pleas were entered and the men were released on bail to reappear in the Stirling Gardens Magistrates Court on February 7 next year.
Sterling Corporate Services was the investment manager of the Sterling Income Trust.
From 2016, the Sterling Group offered a long-term residential lease to retirees and seniors called a Sterling New Life Lease, luring more than 100 investors.
The scheme lured investors into signing a long-term tenancy agreement with returns from a lump-sum investment to pay their rent.
However, the Sterling First group of companies collapsed in May 2019 after a property market downturn and due to a flawed operating structure.
It left dozens of vulnerable elderly tenants homeless after they were unable to meet lease payments.
The cases are being prosecuted by the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions.