12:00a.m. 11th October 2008

A Cooroy man allegedly involved a multi-million dollar off-shore tax avoidance scheme is likely to face a lengthy hearing next year.

Brian Francis Fox, 56, was arrested by Australian Federal Police officers in August after arriving in Australia on a Brisbane-bound flight from Vanuatu.

He was in court in Maroochydore three days later to face allegations he promoted a scheme that resulted in the assets of 69 companies being stripped and transferred through a network of firms in Australia and Vanuatu.

The AFP, the body driving the wide ranging Project Wickenby tax fraud investigations, allegedly acted on a tip-off from the Australian Taxation Office and uncovered companies from Queensland, NSW, Victoria, South Australia and the ACT which were involved in the $10 million asset stripping scheme.

Mr Fox could face a maximum of 20 years in jail and/or a fine of $220,000 if convicted of conspiracy to defraud the Commonwealth.

Two other men, Ian Sidney Henke, 72, of Victoria, and Robin David Huston, 62, of Samford, Queensland have also been charged in the matter.

Mr Fox appeared briefly in Brisbane Magistrates Court yesterday, advising the court he was yet to employ legal representation in the case which the AFP expects could take at least three weeks to be heard.

Until the case is heard next year Mr Fox has been ordered to live with his parents in Cooroy and report to police twice a week. He told the court he would seek to have those conditions altered.

Mr Fox, originally from the Sunshine Coast and now living in Vanuatu, strongly denied the charges.