Apartment owners jubilant as dodgy strata manager banned for life
A controversial strata manager who hired six burly security guards to prevent some apartment owners from attending their own AGM has become the first to be struck off for life.
Michael Lee, general manager of strata company Result Strata, has also been hit with the maximum fine allowable of $11,000 in addition to his disqualification from holding a licence by NSW Fair Trading. His company also had its licence cancelled and was fined the maximum $22,000.
After a long-running investigation into their activities, Fair Trading officials found that, under Lee's direction, the company had failed to disclose conflicts of interest, consistently breached rules of conduct, charged fees for services not rendered, and failed to ensure owners' properties complied with critical fire and safety obligations.
In addition, it hadn't provided information to owners when required, acted contrary to instructions given at general meetings, and failed to make sure a building had adequate insurance cover. As a result, he had become what they believed to be the first strata manager banned for life.
Michael Lee was contacted for comment.
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Fair Trading commissioner Natasha Mann said in a statement to this masthead: 'NSW Fair Trading is committed to strong, visible enforcement to protect consumers and this action sends a clear message that poor conduct in the property sector will not be tolerated.
'Through our dedicated Strata and Property Services Taskforce and ongoing reforms, standards and protections are being lifted and strengthened for the more than 1.2 million people who live in strata communities.'
One jubilant apartment owner who had campaigned against Lee's reign over his building in Sutherland said he was thrilled that the government had acted so decisively to free so many residents from the 'diabolical clutches of such a terrible player.'
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Phillip Andrew Pereira, 50, has pleaded not guilty to three charges over what detectives say was an inside job to hold up the Hamilton North Bowling Club in December. Pereira had been on bail since his arrest in February, but last week in Maitland Local Court was taken behind bars after prosecutors made a successful detention application. Pereira's lawyers had fought off a similar application in March after he had been charged with a domestic violence-related stalking and entering inclosed lands. Last week he was arrested and charged again with breaching an apprehended violence order and common assault and had his bail revoked, Magistrate Ian Rodgers finding Pereira had breached his bail by committing further offences. Pereira has pleaded not guilty to all the charges, including the fresh domestic violence offences, and will face hearings in August and September. The charges relating to the staged robbery at the bowling club are back in court next week to get a hearing date. The development in Pereira's case comes after two other men - former club functions manager Jamie Lee and "armed robber" John William Tutt - were sentenced for their roles in the plot to steal $218,000 from the club in the early hours of December 30, the morning after the club hosted a major Australian Poker League tournament. The Newcastle Herald reported in May that what started out as a joke, an "off-the-cuff remark", a few months earlier about the club being robbed of the poker tournament proceeds became a reality for Lee when Tutt buzzed at the roller door about 4am. "It's Phil," came the voice over the intercom and Lee opened the door to find Tutt dressed in black and holding a knife. Tutt quickly put the blade away when he saw it was Lee and explained he was there for the money in the safe. "I don't want this to happen," Lee, 45, said, according to court documents. "It's gotta happen. It needs to happen," Tutt replied. 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Pereira had been on bail since his arrest in February, but last week in Maitland Local Court was taken behind bars after prosecutors made a successful detention application. Pereira's lawyers had fought off a similar application in March after he had been charged with a domestic violence-related stalking and entering inclosed lands. Last week he was arrested and charged again with breaching an apprehended violence order and common assault and had his bail revoked, Magistrate Ian Rodgers finding Pereira had breached his bail by committing further offences. Pereira has pleaded not guilty to all the charges, including the fresh domestic violence offences, and will face hearings in August and September. The charges relating to the staged robbery at the bowling club are back in court next week to get a hearing date. The development in Pereira's case comes after two other men - former club functions manager Jamie Lee and "armed robber" John William Tutt - were sentenced for their roles in the plot to steal $218,000 from the club in the early hours of December 30, the morning after the club hosted a major Australian Poker League tournament. The Newcastle Herald reported in May that what started out as a joke, an "off-the-cuff remark", a few months earlier about the club being robbed of the poker tournament proceeds became a reality for Lee when Tutt buzzed at the roller door about 4am. "It's Phil," came the voice over the intercom and Lee opened the door to find Tutt dressed in black and holding a knife. Tutt quickly put the blade away when he saw it was Lee and explained he was there for the money in the safe. "I don't want this to happen," Lee, 45, said, according to court documents. "It's gotta happen. It needs to happen," Tutt replied. After some discussion, Lee agreed to let Tutt take the money and Tutt then cut the cables to the CCTV hard drives and stuffed them and the cash into a bag before tying Lee up to make it look like a hold-up. Tutt then drove away and later photographed some of the bundles of cash in his car, including one picture where his shorts and a bandage on his leg were visible. Lee was found by another staff member tied up in the office about 5am. He was untied, said he had been assaulted and robbed and the police were called. Lee was treated at the scene by paramedics before being taken to John Hunter Hospital for treatment. The State Crime Command's Robbery and Serious Crime Squad launched an investigation into the robbery, but that soon shifted focus to an inside job when police examined phone records. On January 17, a few weeks after the staged robbery, Lee went to Newcastle police station and made a 13-page statement that he now admits was a fabricated story about being the victim of a hold-up. In February, detectives revealed they believed the robbery had been staged and arrested Lee, Tutt and Pereira in a series of raids. Tutt and Lee later pleaded guilty and late last month Tutt was jailed for a maximum of 16 months, with a non-parole period of six months, while Lee escaped a jail term and was placed on a 12-month intensive corrections order with 40 hours of community service. A FORMER bowling club secretary-manager who denies orchestrating a $200,000 staged robbery after hosting a major poker tournament is behind bars on domestic violence charges. Phillip Andrew Pereira, 50, has pleaded not guilty to three charges over what detectives say was an inside job to hold up the Hamilton North Bowling Club in December. Pereira had been on bail since his arrest in February, but last week in Maitland Local Court was taken behind bars after prosecutors made a successful detention application. Pereira's lawyers had fought off a similar application in March after he had been charged with a domestic violence-related stalking and entering inclosed lands. Last week he was arrested and charged again with breaching an apprehended violence order and common assault and had his bail revoked, Magistrate Ian Rodgers finding Pereira had breached his bail by committing further offences. Pereira has pleaded not guilty to all the charges, including the fresh domestic violence offences, and will face hearings in August and September. The charges relating to the staged robbery at the bowling club are back in court next week to get a hearing date. The development in Pereira's case comes after two other men - former club functions manager Jamie Lee and "armed robber" John William Tutt - were sentenced for their roles in the plot to steal $218,000 from the club in the early hours of December 30, the morning after the club hosted a major Australian Poker League tournament. The Newcastle Herald reported in May that what started out as a joke, an "off-the-cuff remark", a few months earlier about the club being robbed of the poker tournament proceeds became a reality for Lee when Tutt buzzed at the roller door about 4am. "It's Phil," came the voice over the intercom and Lee opened the door to find Tutt dressed in black and holding a knife. Tutt quickly put the blade away when he saw it was Lee and explained he was there for the money in the safe. "I don't want this to happen," Lee, 45, said, according to court documents. "It's gotta happen. It needs to happen," Tutt replied. After some discussion, Lee agreed to let Tutt take the money and Tutt then cut the cables to the CCTV hard drives and stuffed them and the cash into a bag before tying Lee up to make it look like a hold-up. Tutt then drove away and later photographed some of the bundles of cash in his car, including one picture where his shorts and a bandage on his leg were visible. Lee was found by another staff member tied up in the office about 5am. He was untied, said he had been assaulted and robbed and the police were called. Lee was treated at the scene by paramedics before being taken to John Hunter Hospital for treatment. The State Crime Command's Robbery and Serious Crime Squad launched an investigation into the robbery, but that soon shifted focus to an inside job when police examined phone records. On January 17, a few weeks after the staged robbery, Lee went to Newcastle police station and made a 13-page statement that he now admits was a fabricated story about being the victim of a hold-up. In February, detectives revealed they believed the robbery had been staged and arrested Lee, Tutt and Pereira in a series of raids. Tutt and Lee later pleaded guilty and late last month Tutt was jailed for a maximum of 16 months, with a non-parole period of six months, while Lee escaped a jail term and was placed on a 12-month intensive corrections order with 40 hours of community service.
