Aaron Salvestrin appeared in a Sydney court on Tuesday. Photo: Supplied.
Former Griffith winemaker Aaron Salvestrin will remain on bail after attending a local court hearing in Sydney on Tuesday (14 October) regarding an ongoing criminal case against him.
The 31-year-old has been charged with 16 counts of dishonestly trying to obtain a gain from a Commonwealth entity and one count of using a forged document for a public official to accept as genuine.
A lawyer representing the Commonwealth Government Department of Public Prosecutions told the court that she had received a brief of evidence from police and the case was ready to move forward.
“The brief has been served on 17 September, so I’m seeking that the matter be adorned for eight weeks for charge certification,” she said.
Charge certification is the process in which the prosecutor formally reviews the police charges and decides which charges will proceed to either a trial or a sentencing hearing.
A defendant usually makes a plea of either guilty or not guilty after the charge certification.
Mr Salvestrin’s lawyer Russ Johnson told the court that the prosecutor was seeking “a partition” – dividing the case up into different components.
The Griffith man was seated next to his lawyer at the hearing, which took place at Sydney’s Downing Centre court.
“We ask for an order that [Mr Salvestrin] be excused from appearing at the next hearing,” Mr Johnson asked the court.
“Does your client need to be here on the next occasion?” Magistrate Donnelly replied.
“If he needs to be here, then he’ll be here,” Mr Johnson said.
“Look, I’ll excuse him. Obviously if it goes to committal then that’s different,” Magistrate Donnelly said.
A committal is a hearing in which the magistrate decides whether there is enough evidence to take the matter to a higher court.
“Is there bail in this matter?” the magistrate asked.
“There is, your honour,” Mr Johnson said.
“OK, bail to continue,” the magistrate replied.
At a previous court hearing in August, Mr Salvestrin was granted bail under the condition he report to Dee Why Police Station (in Sydney) once daily between 8 am and 8 pm.
He was also ordered to surrender any passports he held to any police officer at the Dee Why Police Area Command within 12 hours; to not apply for any passport or travel document and to not enter any point of departure (such as an airport) in Australia.
Under his bail conditions, he is to remain within the Sydney Northern Beaches postcode 2099, but can travel to Griffith provided he notifies police of his intention to do so 24 hours in advance.
Magistrate Hugh Donnelly said the charge certification was to be filed and served by 9 December 2025.
This criminal case follows civil court proceedings that concluded in March 2024, when the NSW Supreme Court ordered Mr Salvestrin to pay back just over $8.4 million to creditors after his wine company Sans Pareil went into liquidation. In the published decision, Judge Anthony McGrath ruled he made “unreasonable director-related transactions” while running his business.
The Hanwood-based wine company, launched by 23-year-old Mr Salvestrin in 2018, collapsed four years later due to alleged debts to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) of $32 million.
A rare 2014 McLaren P1 supercar signed by Formula One star Daniel Ricciardo was sold for $1.47 million as part of the liquidation process, which recovered less than 15 per cent of the money owed.
Mr Salvestrin declared himself bankrupt seven days after the NSW Supreme Court ruling.
Original Article published by Oliver Jacques on Region Riverina.
