Dyldam's CEO Joe Khattar established the business in 1969. Credit:Visualeyes Photography Not helping Dyldam's cause was that retailer Harvey Norman, one of 2GB's biggest advertisers, was also stung in the latest collapse. Three days before Christmas, an administrator was appointed to Bower Projects, which has gone down owing around $20 million. Bower was 80 per cent owned by corporate entities associated with Dyldam's owners Sam Fayad and his brother-in-law Joe Khattar. Although a considerable number of Bower's cheques were dishonoured from June 2016, the company's sole director Adrian Banks brushed aside staff concerns. "He told us Dyldam were the major shareholders and they would never let us go down," said one former employee. But the week before Christmas none of the 60 or so staff received their pay and on December 22 they lost their jobs.

Maria Fayad and her husband Sam Fayad. Credit:Facebook "It was just unfortunate," said Mr Banks of the collapse. He declined to comment on why Mr Khattar and Mr Fayad had pulled the pin on funding Bower. A fortnight before the collapse Mr Khattar was awarded property developer of the year by the Urban Taskforce, a lobbying organisation for property developers. Building homes was in the "family blood", Mr Khattar said in his acceptance speech. But it appears paying tax is not.

"They just don't have it in their DNA to pay tax," said prominent liquidator Stephen Hathway of the tens of millions of dollars Dyldam-related entities owe to the Australian Taxation Office. Bower owes the ATO almost $1 million, while former staff are owed the same amount in unpaid wages and entitlements. The Office of State Revenue is owed $309,662, Harvey Norman $132,000 and more than $15 million is owed to scores of subcontractors and tradespeople. Nigel Dunn, who runs CMS Plant Hire, did earthmoving and landscaping on the Dyldam site in Meryll Avenue, Baulkham Hills, which was managed by Bower Projects. He said subcontractors were encouraged to undertake work after being assured that Bower was backed by Dyldam who had been in business over 40 years.

Mr Dunn, who is owed almost $60,000, said he was paid "a couple of grand early on and then they didn't pay us after that". Mr Dunn is furious at the callous disregard shown for subbies. "This kind of thing can send smaller contractors broke, people can lose their houses," he said. A previous Fairfax investigation identified more than a dozen of Mr Fayad's and Mr Khattar's companies going bust, owing the tax office tens of millions of dollars and smaller creditors even more. The pattern is the same. Having paid Dyldam handsomely for construction services, several units are transferred to family and friends of the Dyldam directors and shortly after the company, which was established for a particular development, goes down the gurgler owing the ATO and subcontractors millions. In each case, before the corporate undertakers are called in, Mr Fayad and Mr Khattar exit as directors leaving their wives and sister to preside over the corporate wreckages.

Take Sultaney Khattar, who is Mr Khattar's sister and Mr Fayad's sister-in-law. Although she suffers from poor heath, looks after her elderly mother and has never attended a director's meeting, Ms Khattar was appointed the sole director and secretary of nine companies, which went into administration. But now the ATO is fighting back. At the end of May, Maria Fayad, along with her husband Sam and her brother Joe Khattar, will be examined in the NSW Supreme Court about the mysterious payment of $22 million, which instead of going to creditors, was redirected to Dyldam-related entities. Maria Fayad was the sole director of Project 1876 when it went belly-up in 2013 owing the ATO more than $9.2 million. Mrs Fayad was also the sole director of Plaza West when it went bust in late 2012 owing $28 million, including $5 million to the ATO. Plaza West built an apartment complex and shopping centre, now called Entrada, in Parramatta. When the retail component of Entrada was sold for $22 million, $12.2 million of the sale should have gone to the liquidator of Project 1876 for a mortgage and the balance to the creditors of Plaza West. But the ATO wants to know why all of the money found its way into Dyldam-related companies. The families even used $4.5 million of the money, which arguably should have gone to the ATO, to buy another development site in Lurnea. "The Australia taxpayer has been deprived of tens of millions of dollars in tax," said Mr Hathway, who is currently the deed administrator of Dyldam-related company Plaza West. "The ATO has a long and hard task to unwind the massive web of corporate structures set up by the Dyldam group," he said.

Mr Fayad and Mr Khattar did not respond to a request for comment.