A former fundamentalist church pastor who lost millions of investors' dollars through questionable property deals is one of Australia's worst bankrupts, owing at least $34 million.
The total owed by former Gold Coast lawyer Glenn Phillip Duker could hit about $40 million, because some debts he personally guaranteed do not appear on his bankruptcy notification.
Insolvency experts say Mr Duker, now of Melbourne, is among the nation's 10 biggest bankrupts in the past decade.
Mr Duker is a former pastor with Revival Centres International, which has branches in Queensland. He threw in the financial towel on January 9 after seven years of living a rich life while losing millions of dollars of other people's money.
His church, however, has stood by him. Its deputy leader, Vic Semoilenko, said in December it was "sad that people [complaining about Mr Duker] could be so bitter, and it was sad that people could make so many errors and then want to blame others for their errors".
Mr Duker has listed his largest creditor as the National Australia Bank's low-doc loan company, Homeloans Ltd, which is reportedly owed $12 million.
Homeloans Ltd disputes this exposure.
Other commercial lenders are each owed more than $1 million.
Mr Duker also owes his mother $1.4 million, and his family's investment company $2 million. Many of the debts were accrued after the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) investigated Mr Duker and his former property development company, RVP Group, in 2007.
ASIC accepted Mr Duker's promises to repay debts to investors.
Some received money back after threatening legal action, but others were left short. One victim, who lives in Victoria, said she had been forced to "sell everything" after Mr Duker reneged on a personal guarantee of $150,000.
RVP Group, like most of Mr Duker's companies, is in liquidation. The liquidator believes the company traded while insolvent.
Other companies are under the control of his wife, Lorilea.
Former Sydney Swans player Craig O'Brien said he had sold a $1.3 million Surfers Paradise home to Mr Duker in mid-2007 but had agreed to lend part of the sale price back to him. Mr O'Brien said he had seen no return and was still owed about $700,000, after the bank had eventually sold the house at a loss to recoup its loan to Mr Duker.
Another Queensland victim of the Dukers' scheme, Lynette Orloff, said she had spent $100,000 on legal fees fighting the Dukers and could not afford any more.
Asked for comment on the bankruptcy, Mrs Duker said: "I really don't have time at the moment and I'm really not interested."
Some of the Queensland victims will discuss possible legal action at a meeting with a Gold Coast lawyer tomorrow.
