Twin husbands whose wives flaunt their lavish lifestyles all over social media are charged in a $15million building fraud scheme
- Property moguls Charbel and Elie Douna, 33, were arrested on Wednesday
- They are accused of falsifying documents to get a $14.7million loan for an estate
- Their wives regularly splash their extravagant lifestyle regularly on Instagram
Twin brothers whose influencer wives flaunt their opulent lifestyles on Instagram have been charged over an alleged multimillion-dollar fraud scheme.
Property moguls Charbel and Elie Douna, 33, were arrested on Wednesday in police raids across the Illawarra region, south of Sydney.
The wealthy directors of Albion Park company LuxHomes were accused of falsifying documents to get a $14.7million loan to built properties on a 92-home estate called ‘Avoca Park’.
Their glamorous wives splash their extravagant lifestyle regularly on Instagram – showing off lavish holidays, first class tickets, designer clothes, and luxury homes.
Pictured: Elie Douna and his wife Emily. The couple, who live on the NSW south coast, have three children together
Ms Douna (pictured with her husband) regularly posts pictures showing her lavish lifestyle
There is no suggestion their wives were involved in the alleged fraud.
Detective Chief Inspector Glen Broadhead said the allegedly illegitimate contacts were ‘put in names of people who have not purchased land or had no intention to purchase land’.
‘We believe the specific reason for those [allegedly] false contracts was to support the loan application to ensure the business appeared to have sufficient funds to move forward with the loan application,’ he told the Daily Telegraph.
Police also alleged their real estate friend Ben Feltham, who works at Right Choice Real Estate in Albion Park, published the false sale contracts.
The 35-year-old turned himself into police Lake Illawarra Police Station on Wednesday afternoon.
Charbel (left) and Elie (right) Douna, 33, were charged over an alleged multimillion-dollar fraud scheme
Pictured: Charbel Douna’s wife Sara. The couple live on the south coast of NSW and have three children together
Detectives seized financial documents, poker machines (right), electronic devices and firearms (left) for forensic examination
During searches of the brothers homes in Calderwood and Wongawilli, detectives seized financial documents, poker machines, electronic devices and firearms for forensic examination.
One of the guns was taken after Charbel’s wife Sara posted it to Instagram in 2019.
In the video, Charbel can be seen firing the gun into a a large balloon as part of a gender announcement for his then-pregnant wife.
When hit with a bullet, the balloon exploded in pink dust.
‘It’s just reckless,’ Inspector Broadhead said.
Pictured: Elie and Emily Douna. The mother-of-three posts photos on Instagram showing lavish holidays, first class tickets, designer clothes and luxury homes
The twins were each charged with 19 counts of publish etc false/misleading information to obtain advantage. Pictured: Pictured: One of the brothers with police
The twins were each charged with 19 counts of publishing false and misleading information to obtain advantage, dishonestly obtaining a financial advance by deception and participating in a criminal group to contribute to criminal activity..
Feltham was charged with nine counts of publishing false or misleading information to obtain advantage and participating in a criminal group to contribute criminal activity.
Police allege he used his position as a real estate agent to publish false contracts of sale
Inquiries are continuing and further charges are expected to be laid.
All three men were granted conditional bail to appear in Port Kembla Local Court on April 14.
Feltham was charged with nine counts of publish etc false/misleading information to obtain advantage and participate criminal group contribute criminal activity. Pictured: Police with one of the accused men at a police station
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