A CRIMINAL charge of stealing air conditioners from an unfinished house at Gillieston Heights against a controversial Hunter developer was withdrawn in Maitland Local Court on Tuesday.
Part way through a hearing before Magistrate Ron Maiden, police prosecutor John Brissett informed the court he was withdrawing a charge of larceny against Tellakula Gowri Shankar Shashanth, 41, of North Lambton.
Mr Shankar and his business partner Daniel Roberts, 37, of Wallsend, both pleaded not guilty to larceny earlier this year. The pair had been accused of stealing two split-system air conditioners from an unfinished building site outside of Maitland.
After the police dropped the charge against Shankar, the hearing continued with Roberts as the sole accused.
Police allege the items were owned by Phillip Kapeller, of Gillieston Heights, when they were taken between 9am and 5 pm on March 17, in 2017.
The court heard that following a dispute between Mr Kapeller and the company building his new home, Blissful Constructions, which is now known as BH Australia Constructions, the builders left the site.
Police allege the air conditioners were later found installed at a multi-million dollar development site in Abel St, Wallsend, that in linked to BH Australia Constructions, Shankar and Roberts.
The court heard Roberts worked for BH Australia Constructions as an "agent" and the sole director of the building company was Shankar's wife Aarthi Dhandayutham.
Barrister for Roberts, Daniel Pace, of Ducimus Lawyers, said Mr Kapeller purchased numerous items to be installed at his Gillieston Heights property by the builder during construction, including the air conditioning units.
"At the point in time when construction ceased, that is the builder left the job site because of a dispute, it appears that the property belonging to the complainant, that is the air conditioning units, has been removed from site," he said.
"The issue in dispute will be one, identification, that is who took the air conditioning units and secondly whether that person or persons intended to deprive the complainant of the air conditioning units."
Mr Pace told the court that the items purchased by Mr Kapeller where not insured under the builder's policy and were taken from the site for "safe keeping".
He also detailed how Mr Kapeller won a case against BH Australia Constructions for unfinished and defective works in the Civil Administrative Appeals Tribunal (NCAT) that resulted in an insurance payout of about $400,000. Mr Pace questioned whether the payout covered the loss of the air conditioning units.
The Newcastle Herald has reported previously that because BH Australia Constructions did not pay Mr Kapeller, it triggered access for him to make a claim under home building compensation (HBC) cover, formerly known as home warranty insurance, which was capped at $345,000.
The case was adjourned to June next year.
