An Australian property developer has been sentenced to two years prison time in Bali after facing trial in Denpasar for property fraud and embezzlement charges.
Eric Bevan Gillet was found guilty of property fraud on Thursday in Denpasar District Court.
The 48-year-old sold luxury villas back in 2013 to Tommy Comerford and Ketut Semadi from his plan for a multimillion-dollar Seminyak villa complex, the Xandau Lifestyle Resort.
Gillet was arrested in in February this year for the Rp 6.7 billion that he took from Comerford and Semadi—after the money was transferred into his account he told them the villa plans changed twice and never gave copies of the land certificate and development license when requested. Then he failed to refund the money when he couldn’t present the paperwork.
Chief Judge Ketut Suarta said Gillet caused “unease among society” and loss to his victims during the sentencing.
“The defendant is a foreigner who built his company by abusing the naivete of local people,” Suarta said, as quoted by AAP.
But the “victims” of the case didn’t escape criticism from the judge as well. Suarta called Comerford and Semadi “reckless” for trusting Gillet “too much”.
“Punishment given to the defendant is not for retaliation, but this is a moment for the defendant to realise his mistakes so that he can change,” Suarta said.
Gillet is being held in Kerobokan Prison. His lawyer and the prosecutor said they will consider whether or not they will appeal the sentence.
