Stuart Bell

A judge has ordered that Joseph ‘Diamond Joe’ Gutnik’s Merlin Diamonds be wound up after the mining company’s provisional liquidators uncovered “serious contraventions” and a “serious failure of governance”.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission wants to block former We Buy Houses director Rick Otton from using the proceeds from the sale of his $3.6 million Bondi home to help with legal costs and living expenses as he appeals a record $6 million fine for consumer law violations.

A court on Thursday hit property spruiker We Buy Houses and its sole director, Richard ‘Rick’ Otton, with a record $18 million in total fines for misleading property investors with claims they could learn to buy real estate for $1.