Three men charged over 'large-scale' construction fraud scheme

Three men have been arrested and charged over their involvement in large-scale construction fraud scheme in southern NSW.

The three men are accused of falsifying nine contracts for the sale of land as part of a development project in Avondale in order to obtain a $14.7 million loan.

Police believe two of the men - twin brothers aged 33 - were using falsified documentation to obtain the multi-million-dollar loan while the third man, aged 35, used his position as a real estate agent to publish false contracts of sale.

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"The loan was in relation to a development in the Avondale area and we are alleging bank statements have been altered, and contracts have been forged to support the applications," Detective Chief Inspector Glen Broadhead said.

"The purpose of the false contracts was to support the loan application to ensure the business appeared to have sufficient funds to go forward with that loan.

"This is certainly a large-scale fraud and it has a massive impact on a lot of people, a lot of legitimate people who were involved in the development and its certainly something we haven't seen a lot of within the Illawarra area."

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Police believe the false contracts were forged and put under names of people who "haven't purchased land or had no intention of purchasing the land".

Police have spoken to the individuals who may be the subject of false contracts.

Following extensive inquiries, five search warrants were executed at businesses and homes across the Illawarra yesterday.

The twin brothers were arrested at their homes in Wongawilli and Calderwood and the the third man was arrested a short time later.

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During the course of the search warrants, investigators seized financial documents, poker machines, firearms and electronic devices which will undergo forensic examination.

The twin brothers were charged with a raft of fraud-related offences including 19 counts of publishing false and misleading information to obtain advantage.

The 35-year-old man is facing nine charges including participating in a criminal group.