Max Green (lawyer)

Max Green
Born	1952 (1952)
Died	25 March 1998(1998-03-25) (aged 45–46)
Cause of death	Murder
Occupations	Company director, lawyer
Spouse(s)	Louise Giselle Baron (m. 1976)
Children	1
Parent(s)	Millie and David Green

Max Paul Green (1952 – 25 March 1998) was an English-born lawyer who practised in Australia. During the 1990s, he became the central figure in a major tax-minimisation scheme that was later found to involve large-scale fraud. In 1998, Green was murdered in Cambodia under circumstances that remain unresolved.

Max Green was born in London, England, and migrated to Australia with his family at the age of five. He was raised in Sydney and later moved to Melbourne after completing his legal education. He married Louise Giselle Baron. In 1981, Green joined the board of Emma Page, a fashion jewellery company. Between 1985 and 1989, he lived in Austin, Texas, where he worked full-time for the company.^[1]

In 1991, Green became a partner at the Melbourne law firm Shugg & Green, alongside Gary Vernon Shugg. He departed the firm in late 1993. In 1995, Shugg was suspended from legal practice for three years, and the firm was placed into receivership in June 1994 amid financial and regulatory difficulties. Allegations were later made—though never proven—that the firm had been involved in illegal arms trading.^[2]

During the early 1990s, Green established an investment structure promoted as a lawful tax-minimisation scheme. Under Australian tax law, certain low-value equipment purchases could be fully depreciated in the year of acquisition. Green’s scheme claimed to exploit this provision by purchasing equipment and leasing it to CityLink, which was then constructing toll roads in Melbourne.^[3]

The structure involved borrowing up to four times the initial capital from a Hong Kong bank. Approximately A$42 million was invested, largely by private individuals. Several prominent Melbourne businessmen participated, including Ian Gandel and Maurice Alter. Investors were promised annual returns of around 15 per cent, together with tax deductions arising from depreciation claims.^[4][5][6]

Investigators later determined that the scheme was fraudulent. Although documentation suggested substantial equipment purchases, no equipment was ever acquired, and CityLink had no leasing arrangement with the fund. Significant sums were siphoned from trust accounts and transferred through a complex network of domestic and offshore bank accounts.^[7] Authorities were unable to recover the misappropriated funds. Police and regulators later alleged that Green laundered much of the money through the international gemstone trade, including the purchase of high-value gems in Cambodia and their subsequent resale in Israel.^[8]

The Victorian Lawyers RPA Ltd, the regulatory body associated with the Victorian Law Institute, commenced an investigation into trust-account irregularities linked to Green and Aroni Colman.

On 24 March 1998, Green stayed overnight at the Sofitel Cambodiana hotel in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. He was scheduled to fly to Hong Kong the following morning. On 25 March, he was found dead in his hotel room. He had sustained severe head and facial injuries and was strangled with a necktie. His laptop computer was missing, though cash and credit cards were untouched.^[9]

Due to the extent of facial injuries, Green’s body was later exhumed in Melbourne to confirm identification.[12] No arrests were made, and the murder remains unsolved. Police have publicly stated that they believed the killing may have been professionally organised and potentially motivated by revenge related to Green’s financial activities, though no definitive conclusions were reached.^[10][11]

Green’s associate and gem trader Ted Doyle later commented on the circumstances surrounding his death, describing Green as having become entangled with dangerous individuals in the course of his business dealings.^[12]