Funds meant for NDIS accommodation diverted to high-end goods and speculative investments, ASIC probe suggests
Property developer David McWilliams has been charged with 13 criminal offences following an Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) investigation into the alleged misappropriation of funds intended for specialist disability accommodation.
ASIC alleges McWilliams, acting as company director, dishonestly used and caused detriment to his company through investor funds totalling $10.14 million. Those funds were raised to develop specialist disability accommodation for NDIS participants in Queensland and Western Australia. A further charge relates to an allegedly false or misleading statement used to induce investment in one project. If convicted, McWilliams faces a maximum of 20 years' imprisonment.
According to the regulator, McWilliams directed more than $10 million of investor funds — raised for specific projects — to unrelated purposes between July 2021 and October 2023. These included the purchase of an Aston Martin vehicle, cryptocurrency, a pub in Whyalla, investments in a Seychelles-based litigation funder, and a luxury high-rise apartment in Surfers Paradise acquired for his wife. Of the six specialist disability accommodation projects associated with the charges, work commenced on only one. None were completed.
ASIC commenced its investigation into McWilliams, his wife Laura Fullarton, and the ALAMMC Companies in July 2024, in relation to suspected contraventions of the Corporations Act and the Queensland Criminal Code. The investigation was triggered after the Queensland Office of Liquor and Gaming Regulation reported that McWilliams had been gambling significant sums at the Star Casino, amounts that were suspected to be investor funds raised for property developments.
Receivers appointed to the ALAMMC Companies found that McWilliams had raised more than $90 million from more than 500 investors through those entities for the purpose of developing specialist disability accommodation.
The Federal Court granted freezing orders on 11 September 2024, subsequently extended and varied, to preserve assets in connection with ASIC's enforcement action against McWilliams, Fullarton, ALAMMC Developments, and related parties. On 14 October 2025, ASIC obtained orders winding up the ALAMMC Companies on just and equitable grounds. On 26 November 2025, ASIC filed an application seeking criminal contempt orders against McWilliams and Fullarton; a four-day criminal contempt trial concluded last week, with judgment reserved.
The matter is being prosecuted by the Commonwealth Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions following the ASIC investigation.
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