Gertsch lawyer denies murder link
The former solicitor of murdered gay millionaire Ludwig Gertsch has denied arranging the killing at an inquest into his one-time client’s death.
Brian Mainwaring, previously known as Brian Roberts, told the inquest at Glebe Coroner’s Court this week he did not discuss the cost of having someone killed in the lead-up to Gertsch’s murder in late 1990, Australian Associated Press reported.
He told the inquest he last saw Gertsch on the night of his disappearance in October 1990, when he drove Gertsch to Oxford Street.
Gertsch was last seen alive at his former partner Vincent Esposito’s unit in Ashfield. His body was found in the Blue Mountains in November 1990.
In 1994 a coroner’s inquest found Gertsch was killed in the Ashfield unit by a person or persons unknown.
Mainwaring also rejected allegations he would have been in financial difficulty if Gertsch had stopped his association with him.
But Mainwaring agreed with counsel assisting the coroner he had an $89,000 overdraft from the ANZ Bank and a $36,000 overdraft from Westpac when Gertsch died, The Australian reported.
Mainwaring also agreed that after Gertsch died, companies he was linked to benefited from Gertsch’s estate. He also admitted he lied to police about forging Gertsch’s signature on an $89,000 cheque on the day the millionaire disappeared.
After Gertsch died, Mainwaring became trustee and executor of Gertsch’s estate. He admitted this week he took about $200,000 from a trust fund intended for Gertsch’s nephew and divided the funds between various businesses and his bank account. Mainwaring waslater jailed for forging Gertsch’s will.
The inquest continues.
