For just one dollar, Ian Andrew Phillips bought the management rights to a Queensland resort.
But Phillips ultimately paid a heavy price, losing "everything" after being jailed for taking almost $220,000 from a trust account over two years from 2017 in a bid to cover business expenses.
Phillips, 67, was a successful businessman before suddenly taking over management at the Rainbow Beach resort near Gympie with a colleague, the District Court heard.
"For some reason they didn't do any due diligence at all. They jumped into (it)...in a real dangerous way," defence solicitor Michael McMillan said.
Running the resort through their company Think Tank Management, they soon discovered it was unprofitable and had outstanding debts.
"Within a month of kicking off the operation ... the pair of them were finding it hard to make ends meet," Mr McMillan said.
Phillips initially started to prop up the day-to-day running of the business with his own money.
Phillips and his colleague then decided to dip into the trust account that held proceeds of holiday rentals before it was paid to the resort's individual unit owners.
Phillips was the account's sole signatory but gave his colleague - who was the resort's on-site manager - internet banking access.
"This quickly progressed to far more significant drawings (from the trust account) and the problem was they simply weren't getting any money back," Mr McMillan said.
"They were constantly pinching from Peter to pay Paul."
From January 2017 to February 2019, Phillips and his colleague agreed to take a total of $219,000 out of the trust account to pay for business expenses.
One unit owner lost $92,000.
"This appears to be because the business was unprofitable," Judge Barlow told Phillips on Tuesday.
"It would appear you ought to have assumed it was unprofitable because you bought it for only one dollar."
Most owners have since been compensated partly or fully by a claim fund established.
Phillips suffered a total financial loss of $288,000 and was forced to sell his house.
He still owes $140,000 under a director penalty notice from the Australian Taxation Office.
"The business has led you to effectively lose everything," Judge Ken Barlow told Phillips.
After pleading guilty to one count of wrongful conversion, Phillips - who recently became a grandfather - was sentenced to three years in jail, suspended after six months.
"This offending is clearly out of character but that is often the case with these sorts of white collar crimes," Judge Barlow said.
"It's often the case that someone who ultimately ends up defrauding others has done so in circumstances that they would never have anticipated."
Phillips' colleague received a suspended jail term last year.
