Ponzi property sold at Sanctuary Cove but delays cut price by $1m

The fire sale of a Gold Coast property linked to an international Ponzi scandal was completed on Friday with the final bid of $3.9 million made by an existing Sanctuary Cove resident. 

The auction for the property on 1019-1020 Edgecliff Drive, Sanctuary Cove was the final sale in Queensland aimed at liquidating funds from Pearl Group and its affiliates, which misused monies raised from millions of Indian citizens several decades ago.

LJ Hooker's Surfers Paradise sales executive Rick Graham tells Business News Australia the funds will end up going back to India as part of the repatriation effort from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

"It was quite successful. It sold under the hammer for $3.9 million and there was competitive bidding, about 17 bids on 12 registered buyers," Graham says.

Pearls group outlaid $4.9 million in 2011 via Pearls Infrastructure Projects Limited (PIPL) for the prestigious waterfront mansion and the adjoining lot housing an entertainment pavilion.

"We had contact on the property for actually $4.85 million back about just over two years ago, but it hadn't been resolved who actually owned the property because PIPL, the Indian group, had lost control of the property and it was taken over by the Indian Government," says Graham.

"It took two years and three months for the Indian Government to make application to the Australian Federal Court in regards to the title of the property."

So the final sale price was almost $1 million less than that initial contact, but the property was sold nonetheless after two years of difficulties. 

"That was all that was required by the receiver who appointed us to sell the property on their behalf," says Graham.

"It was a long time but I suppose like most things in real estate, it's persistence that counts; it's not talent."

Business News Australia