‘Extraordinary events’: Convictions quashed for construction boss after juror misconduct

Construction boss George Alex’s convictions for money laundering and tax fraud have been quashed and a new trial has been ordered after an appeals court found an “unprecedented” allegation of juror tampering had led to a miscarriage of justice.

George Alex and five co-defendants were found guilty in June 2024 of conspiring to defraud the tax office of more than $10 million after a five-month trial and five weeks of jury deliberations in mid-2024. Alex was sentenced to nine years and three months in jail , while his co-defendants were variously sentenced to eight or eight-and-a-half years.

But they appealed their convictions, claiming it had been tainted by one of the jurors conducting illegal internet searches about Alex’s criminal history that uncovered “highly prejudicial” material. They also claimed that his fellow jurors had been offered bribes to deliver acquittals.

The Court of Criminal Appeal (CCA) found in a judgment delivered on Friday that it was clear the juror had obtained via the illegal searches “abundant information about Mr Alex’s bad character, his having been convicted of making a threat to kill, and his notoriety in relation to trade union corruption allegations made at a royal commission”.

“The jury tampering allegation, made from inside [sic] the jury by Juror G, was unprecedented,” the CCA found.

“Despite the length of the trial, the findings of the sheriff’s report and the trial judge’s careful directions, we have concluded that a miscarriage of justice occurred and that a new trial must be ordered.”

Australian Federal Police officers discovered Juror G’s extensive browsing on Alex three months into the trial when they raided the juror’s home during an unrelated drug investigation. They also learnt from the phone they seized from Juror G that he had been selling drugs to Juror A.

Juror G had been elected foreman on May 9, and some of his fellow jurors would later tell the sheriff that he was part of a louder group on the jury and sometimes drank after court with other jurors.

His numerous internet searches in the early hours of the morning led him to news articles that contained references to murder, mafia, tax cheating, fraud and money laundering in relation to Alex and his associates. The CCA noted that among the “unfavourable epithets” used to describe Alex were “underworld figure” and “a colourful identity with a history of violent associates and links to phoenix companies in the building industry”.

Waiting for the sheriff’s officer to arrive after the raid on his house, Juror G told a federal agent he was not the only juror who had engaged in misconduct and that others “had done worse”.