Murderer Ron Medich and his family have reaped almost $500million from the sale of a block of land next to the new Western Sydney International Airport.
Ron and Roy Medich paid just $3.5million for the 344 hectares of farmland in 1996 and the single-storey brick home that stands on it was last rented for $280 a week.
The Badgerys Creek block on Elizabeth Drive - one of the largest bordering the airport - sold for $499,950,000 to a consortium with links to a Chinese billionaire.
Sales records show the vendors were Roy Medich Properties Pty Ltd and CSPA Properties Pty Ltd, of which 73-year-old jailed killer Ron Medich is shareholder.
The Northern Gateway site, which is earmarked as the logistics and employment hub for the airport, is a critical strategic asset. Yet the Guardian has confirmed the purchase will not require approval by the Foreign Investment Review Board because the two shareholders of the company are Australian citizens, and debt funding is not scrutinised by Firb.
A map showing the Northern Gateway of the new western Sydney airport in the NSW government’s draft Aerotropolis Precinct Plan. Photograph: NSW government
Pan, who spoke to the Guardian on behalf of the company, said: “Roberts Jones Funds Management and a consortium of major institutional financiers supported and assisted in debt funding the acquisition.