West Sydney Developer Pleads Guilty to Fraud Charges

The director of a Sydney-based development company has pleaded guilty to criminal charges following an ASIC investigation. Krishnakumar Sitaram Agrawal, director of 27 companies under the Mansa Group umbrella, pleaded guilty in the Sydney Downing Centre Local Court ( pictured ) of using false documents to obtain a financial advantage. He also pleaded guilty to a further count of using his position as a director dishonestly, to “gain advantage and cause detriment contrary to the Corporations Act”. The charges relate to Agrawal removing directors and shareholders of the group companies without their knowledge and obtaining loans from third-party lenders on that basis. He also used false documents to obtain loans, and used those loans for the benefit of other corporations controlled by him, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission said. The offences were committed between April, 2017 and March of 2023, ASIC said. Companies in liquidation The Mansa Group of companies were engaged in funding, acquiring and developing property in Sydney’s West. But the collapse of the group revealed the extent of its problems. Between June and August of 2023, 16 Mansa Group companies were placed into voluntary administration or liquidation, either by Agrawal or creditors. One of those companies, Mansa Sons Pty Ltd, was found to owe 151 investors $34.5 million. According to a November, 2023 creditors report from Mansa Sons administrators Olvera Advisors, the company lent funds to several related companies that invested in property projects at Kellyville, Wentworthville, Toongabbie, Box Hill and Austral. ▲ A rendering of a project by SK Homes, one of the Mansa Group companies. The administrators said they believed that the company operated an unlicensed management investment scheme, and many lenders had been seeking the return of their principal loans in the immediate run-up to the administration. The administrators found that the company borrowed funds from up to 200 unsecured creditors, the majority of whom appeared to be individuals or self-managed superannuation funds. Loan amounts varied between $20,000 and $932,000, they said. According to another administrators report from July 2023, Agrawal had blamed poor market conditions for the failure of the company. Thirteen consecutive rate hikes led to major cost increases, making it harder to secure lending for projects, he said, and construction-cost increases and delays due to the 2022 heavy rains and flooding were also blamed. ▲ A rendering of an education facility at Schofields by Mansa Group’s SK Homes. As a result, he said, a Toongabbie project lost $3 million instead of turning a $2 million profit, and delays at its 23 Terry Road project at Box Hill led to contracts of sale being rescinded. Olvera was also appointed to Dawn Enterprise, Tvesa Investments, Siddhi Services, and Patidar Group. Other companies in the group included Sahyog Developers, Sankul Investments and SKTM Capital. SK Homes was another group company, and its website is still live, listing apartment, education and townhouse projects at Penrith, Schofields, Kellyville and Box Hill. Administrators from Walsh and Associates were appointed to this company. Subsequent reports estimated the total owed to investors of the group companies sat at around $80 million. Travel restraint orders Once the investigations into the company began, ASIC also secured travel restraint orders against Agrawal and his wife, Shashikumari Krishnakumar Agrawal, preventing them from leaving Australia until August 2024. This was later discharged for Mrs Agrawal, but extended until December that year for Mr Agrawal. Agrawal made his first appearance at the Sydney Downing Centre Local Court on March 18, when he entered guilty pleas. ASIC said that the admission of guilt on the second charge of dishonestly would be taken into account when sentencing. The offence of using false documents to obtain a financial advantage has a maximum penalty of 10 years’ imprisonment. Under the Corporations Act, using a position dishonestly has a maximum penalty of 15 years.

West Sydney Developer Pleads Guilty to Fraud Charges

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