Max Green
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Part of the series on Australian criminals |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
International |
|
Max Green (1952 - 25 March 1998) was a Jewish Australian lawyer who embezzled millions of dollars and was later murdered in Cambodia.
Contents |
[edit] Early life
He was born in Sydney, Australia and grew up in Sydney. He graduated from law school, moved to Melbourne and married Louise Giselle Baron in 1976.
He joined the board of Emma Page, a fashion jewellery concern, in 1981. He spent the years from 1985 to 1989 in Austin, Texas, working fulltime for Emma Page.
In 1991, Green became a partner of Gary Vernon Shugg, in a law firm in Melbourne Shugg & Green. Green left this firm in late 1993. In 1995, a partner of the firm (Shugg) was suspended from practice for three years. It was alleged, but never proved, that the firm sold weapons to Cambodia. The firm was placed into receivership in June 1994 at the request of Shugg.
Green became a partner in Melbourne law firm Aroni Colman shortly after his departure from Shugg & Green.
[edit] Tax Minimisation
Australian tax law allows equipment purchases that are below a certain purchase price to be entirely depreciated in the first year. Green founded an investment scheme during the 1990s designed to help investors minimise tax legally. The scheme would buy equipment and lease it to CityLink for the construction of highways in Melbourne.
The scheme involved borrowing four times as much money as the initial capital from a Hong Kong bank. AUD $42 million was invested in the scheme, mainly by private individuals. Most of the investors were Jewish businessmen from Melbourne. Green promised a 15% per annum return on investment, as well as allowing investors to legally write off some of the investment as a tax deduction.
Green created fraudulent documents that appeared to show equipment purchases, but the fund never actually purchased any equipment and CityLink did not lease any equipment from it. A considerable quantity of money disappeared from the trust accounts used to hold the investors' capital. The movement of the money was subsequently traced through an elaborate network of bank accounts.
However, Green ultimately laundered all the money that he stole and police were never able to recover any of it. It is thought that he purchased some US $20 million of gems from various gem traders in Cambodia, and later sold the gems in Israel.
The Victorian Lawyers RPA Ltd, the regulatory arm of the Victorian Law Institute, began an investigation of 'trust account irregularities' in accounts associated with Green and Aroni Colman.
[edit] The Murder
On 24 March 1998, Max Green stayed overnight at the Sofitel Cambodiana. He had booked a flight at 11am the next day to Hong Kong.
His body was found by a maid the next day, face down on the bed, with massive injuries to his skull and face. The cause of death was strangulation by a necktie. His laptop was stolen (but not his cash or credit cards). His face was disfigured so badly that after he was buried in Melbourne, his body was exhumed so that the Coroner could make doubly sure that it was him.
His killer or killers were never found, although police suspect that it was done by professional 'hitmen' contracted by one of his many victims.
[edit] Quotes
His friend and associate Ted Doyle, a gem trader, said "A very fine piece of monofilament was attaching Max Green to the planet. You are talking about a very sick soul who played with the wrong people… In the course of trade, Max got killed before he could pay his last bill. It makes it rather difficult for people to pay their bills. Not breathing affects your ability to write checks."
The second verse of the song, What It's Like, by Everlast mentions the murder of Max Green.
I knew this kid named Max He used to get fat stacks out on the corner with drugs He liked to hang out late at night Liked to get shit faced And keep pace with thugs Until late one night there was a big gun fight Max lost his head He pulled out his chrome .45 Talked some shit And wound up dead Now his wife and his kids are caught in the midst of all of his pain You know it crumbles that way At least that's what they say when you play the game
