The Supreme Court of NSW, after considering all facts in a well-publicised fraud case, has ruled in favour of Mr Ian Lazar as follows:

• Ian Lazar was found not guilty in relation to the charge of dishonestly obtaining by deception a valuable thing.
• A directed verdict of no case to Answer (Not Guilty) was entered in respect
• of the charge of dealing with the proceeds of crime.
• The charge was withdrawn against Mr Lazar for fraudulently omitting to account for money.

Mr Lazar’s lawyer Raed Rahal of Cambridge Law and counsel submitted a costs application, and the court granted costs against the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions in favour of Mr Lazar.

The circumstances of costs being granted related to prosecution proceeding to trial with three sequences. Sequence three was withdrawn by the Crown after pre-trial arguments.

After an application was made by the defence, sequence two was given a directed verdict of not guilty on the basis that the prosecution was not able to establish a prima facie case. According to Lazar’s lawyers the prosecution’s evidence was unable to support a finding of guilt on the allegations made in sequence two.

In relation to the remaining sole sequence one, the Court was not satisfied that the evidence could establish that a deception of Amy Hewitt had occurred by the accused. With this as a primary element of the offence, the court found Mr. Lazar ‘Not Guilty’.

Brady Halls, the Journalist and Senior Reporter for A Current Affair, gave evidence as a prosecution witness that he had no knowledge about the house in Nambucca Heads. He stated a pro under cross examination that he felt that the entire A Current Affair story was conducted as a sting operation on Ian Lazar. He also said that he had no interest in doing the story about Mr Lazar.

Mr Halls also stated he was being directed by the police who both told him what to say and email and what to SMS to Mr Lazar in order to obtain evidence to have him charged.

Mr Lazar spent months on remand and after three failed bail applications, the Supreme Court of NSW granted bail. Six years later and two vacated trials the case was heard in the District Court of NSW.

Mr Lazar is now seeking a multimillion-dollar settlement for malicious prosecution.

Mr Lazar, alleges at the time National Federal Senator John Williams, was instrumental in being the architect of these charges being brought against him by the New South Wales Police.

In the committal proceeding, Mr Lazar addressed the court stating that he was not in Australia at the time of the alleged offense.