What began as a trusted financial relationship turned into a nightmare for retirees Beryl and Stan D’Cruz, who lost their entire investment in what a court has labelled a carefully orchestrated property scam involving a fake development.
The couple first crossed paths with mortgage broker Nigel Sequeira in 2018, when he successfully arranged finance for them to purchase a property in Doncaster Victoria.
As trust grew, so did the scale of their dealings. Sequeira later borrowed $100,000 from the couple for his business and, when they sold the Doncaster property, presented them with what seemed to be an exciting opportunity: a lucrative “off-market investment” in two luxury rural developments at Kangaroo Valley, south of Sydney.
The developments, marketed as “The Meadows” and “Highlands Estate,” were described as high-end rural subdivisions, with large one and two acre lots set for rapid capital growth.
According to Sequeira, once council approvals were finalised, these blocks would be worth between $1 million and $2 million each. Sequeira assured the D’Cruz couple that the developer — Jude Coutinho — was ready to settle on the purchases but needed investor funds to secure the properties.
In August 2021, Sequeira arranged a Zoom call where the couple spoke directly with Coutinho, Sequeira and associate, Ryan Martinez. The conversation was full of reassurances: settlement was “imminent”, council approvals were merely a formality, and should the deal fall through, investors would be refunded with interest. Further boosting their confidence, Sequeira claimed he had personally invested in one of the lots.
Over the next two months, the D’Cruz couple transferred 16 separate payments into accounts linked to Coutinho’s companies — Avondale Property Group and QC Property Management— as well as into trust accounts held by the companies’ solicitors. In total, they stumped up $854,010.
The entire development was fiction. Coutinho’s companies never owned, nor had any legal agreements to purchase, The Meadows or Highlands Estate properties. The land was held by unrelated third parties, none of whom had any obligations to Coutinho or his entities. The “imminent settlement” promised to the D’Cruz couple was pure fabrication.
Despite repeated requests for updates throughout 2022, Coutinho and Sequeira offered vague excuses. Then, in November 2022, the truth was finally out: the developments were not proceeding, and there was no prospect of recovering the couple’s money.
The D’Cruz commenced legal proceedings in 2023, in the Supreme Court of NSW against Coutinho, his companies, and Sequeira for misleading and deceptive conduct under the Australian Consumer Law.
Coutinho and his companies failed to participate in the proceedings, leading the court to ultimately strike out their defences.
Sequeira appeared in court self- represented.
His contended he acted merely as a “conduit,” passing along information from Coutinho and making no independent representations of his own. He argued that he had included disclaimers in his correspondence and had no control over the projects themselves.
Justice David Hammerschlag was unpersuaded.
Far from being a passive messenger, Sequeira had actively encouraged the couple to invest, vouched for the safety and profitability of the scheme, and even claimed personal involvement as an investor.
In the judge’s words, Sequeira was “far more than a conduit,” and was “actively involved in marketing and promoting the investment” alongside Coutinho.
As for Coutinho, the court found that he made false representations to secure the funds, knowing his companies had no legal right to acquire or develop the properties. The repeated assurances that settlement was imminent were deliberate misrepresentations designed to extract money from the D’Cruz under false pretences.
In a scathing decision, court found Coutinho, APG, QCPM and Sequeira all liable for misleading and deceptive conduct. The court ordered them to pay $854,010 in damages, plus interest and legal costs.
It remains to be seen whether they will ever receive that sum to cover the money they lost.
D’Cruz v Coutinho [2025] NSWSC 150 Hammerschlag J, 6 March 2025
