Consumer Protection has commenced legal action in the Supreme Court against the secretary of a Fremantle RSL club, alleging he illegally acquired the club's property.
Phillip Douglas and his wife Linda Lyons are accused of acquiring the RSL property, known as Club Wyola, for less than a quarter of its estimated value, reported to be around $2 million.
In a Writ lodged with the Court on 14 December 2010, the Commissioner for Consumer Protection Anne Driscoll alleges that the premises at 8-12 Bannister Street, formerly owned by the Fremantle R.S.L. Club "Wyola", was unlawfully acquired by Mr Douglas and Ms Lyons.
The Writ alleges that the acquisition by Mr Douglas of a "right of first refusal" in a lease agreement signed in 1992, and the circumstances surrounding the decision of the Club to transfer the property to Mr Douglas and Ms Lyons this year, involved unlawful conduct under the Fair Trading Act 1987 (WA).
Consumer Protection is acting on behalf of the members of Club Wyola, and attempting to recover the property or gain some form of compensation over the acquisition, which occurred earlier this year.
A date for the hearing has not yet been set.
The allegations have created a storm of controversy in Fremantle, coming to a head last month when a Fremantle magistrate granted a violence restraining order against Mr Douglas, after a club member complained he had been verbally abused.
