Aaron Salvestrin was once touted a “rising star of the Riverina wine scene”. Photo: Supplied.
A criminal case against a former Griffith winemaker accused of fraud has been delayed again after another adjournment request.
Aaron Salvestrin, 31, has been charged with 16 counts of dishonestly trying to obtain a gain from a Commonwealth entity and one count of using a forged document for a public official to accept as genuine.
His case is being held before a Sydney local court and is in its early pre-trial stages.
Late last year, the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions decided there was enough evidence to proceed with their charges and sent a brief of evidence to Mr Salvestrin’s lawyer Russ Johnson.
A case conference was supposed to have been held by December 2025 – where both sets of lawyers meet to discuss the charges and consider the evidence before Mr Salvestrin decides whether to plead guilty or not guilty.
However, at the time, Mr Johnson told the court the prosecutors’ evidence was “impossible to understand” and requested an eight-week delay for the Commonwealth to get its “house in order”.
The magistrate allowed the delay and the case conference was supposed to have been completed by early February.
However, at the latest hearing on Tuesday (3 February), the Commonwealth prosecutor Ms Nadj told the court there was an application for a further delay.
“The application is to adjourn for five weeks to allow for a case conference to be held,” she said.
“Is there a date planned for that case conference?” Deputy Chief Magistrate Michael Antrum asked in response.
“It’s to be held on 20 February,” Ms Nadj responded.
Magistrate Antrum agreed to the adjournment and scheduled the next hearing for March.
Neither Mr Salvestrin nor his December hearing legal representative Russ Johnson attended Tuesday’s hearing.
Region asked the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions why the matter had been delayed and whether it had addressed complaints about its brief of evidence.
It did not answer our questions, but a spokesperson provided the following comment: “This matter is being prosecuted in accordance with the Prosecution Policy of the Commonwealth.”
We also asked Mr Johnson if he was still representing Mr Salvestrin and if he could explain the latest delay. He did not respond.
After the case conference, the magistrate will decide if the matter is to proceed to a higher court for a trial.
A legal expert has told Region the matter could take several more months to proceed to a trial, if deemed necessary.
Magistrate Antrum also decided Mr Salvestrin will remain on bail, under the same conditions he was put under in the first hearing on this matter in August 2025.
The Griffith man is to report to Dee Why Police Station (in Sydney) once daily between 8 am and 8 pm.
He was also ordered to surrender any passports he held to any police officer at the Dee Why Police Area Command within 12 hours; to not apply for any passport or travel document; and to not enter any point of departure (such as an airport) in Australia.
Under his bail conditions, he is to remain within the Sydney Northern Beaches postcode 2099, but can travel to Griffith provided he notifies police of his intention to do so 24 hours in advance.
Mr Salvestrin founded the Hanwood-based winery San Pareil Estate in 2018. Four years later, the company went into liquidation with alleged debts of more than $30 million.
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