Albany Hotel fire fraud case
In one of the more bizarre cases hitting the Australian courts, five men have been charged with fraud, criminal damage by fire and endangering the lives or safety of others following a robbery and arson attack on an historic West Australian hotel.
The court has been told that the fire at Albany’s Premier Hotel in May was the work of people in cahoots with the co-owner who was pursuing a $3 million insurance claim, because the business was struggling.
The fire resulted in about $2 million worth of damage to the building. Two people were staying upstairs at the 130-year-old hotel at the time.
The Stirling Gardens Magistrates court heard that one of the men, Scott John Gay, was contacted by co-owner Graeme Cooper who "enlisted his help" because the hotel was "struggling".
Prosecutor Hannah Milligan told the court that Gay “engaged the assistance" of two other men.
They then travelled to Albany "to stage a robbery and in the course of the robbery set fire to the hotel to facilitate an insurance claim".
The court heard the men were to be paid $10,000 for their role in the scheme.
"A robbery was staged, the hotel set on fire [and that] resulted in Mr Cooper making a claim for $3 million," Milligan said.
She said Cooper had "actively pursued the claim".
She also accused him of making a false statement to police.
It’s been reported that Cooper, who is now being held in custody until his next appearance on November 2, intends to plead not guilty to the charges.
Gay's lawyer, Ian Hope, said his client was not "the principal" in the alleged offences.
He told the court Gay was not present at the time of the robbery and fire.
His only alleged role, he said, was as a contact between Cooper and the two other men.
by Leon Gettler, October 20th 2016
