Aaron Salvestrin may have to appear at a court hearing in April. Photo: Supplied.
The often-delayed criminal court case on a former Griffith winemaker accused of fraud has taken a step forward this week with a committal hearing date set for April.
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.
At a hearing on Tuesday (10 March), the Commonwealth prosecutor confirmed that she had met with Mr Salvestrin’s lawyer for a case conference – a meeting to discuss the charges and consider the evidence before deciding on next steps.
“Your honour, the parties held a case conference on 20 February 2026, that was quite productive and we are continuing to negotiate. If we could seek a four-week adjournment to 7 April 2026,” she told the court.
Magistrate Susan Horan said she would set the date of 7 April for a committal hearing – where the defendant generally decides whether to plead guilty or not guilty and the magistrate decides whether the case should proceed to a higher court for sentencing or a trial.
Mr Salvestrin did not attend the Tuesday hearing or a previous hearing in February, but may have to attend in April.
“The defendant is excused if legally represented, unless for committal, in which case he needs to be here,” Magistrate Horan said.
Late last year, the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions decided there was enough evidence to proceed with its charges and sent a brief of evidence to Mr Salvestrin’s then-lawyer Russ Johnson.
A case conference was supposed to have been held by December 2025, but 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”.
Another five-week delay was sought at a 3 February hearing, but given the case conference has now been held, the matter can finally move forward.
Mr Johnson did not represent Mr Salvestrin at hearings held in 2026 and has not responded to questions from Region on whether he is still involved in the case.
Magistrate Horan also decided that the Griffith man would 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.
Gary Delpiano exactly! I’m happy to pay for my meal and drinks, but I have no desire to pay for… View