Millionaire Zoran Radovanovic, a fugitive who traveled to Byron Bay with Covid, escapes to Serbia

The Sydney millionaire who forced a lockdown of Byron Bay at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic is still avoiding punishment 10 months after brazenly breaching public health orders.

Zoran Radovanovic flew to Serbia before he could be sentenced for driving from Sydney to northern New South Wales with his two teenage children, supposedly to inspect real estate, in July last year.

His lawyer has now told Daily Mail Australia that Radovanovic is still in Serbia caring for his elderly mother and will deal with the arrest warrant awaiting him when he returns to Sydney.   

The businessman left the country amid a dispute with his estranged wife Tania MacDowell which included an application for an apprehended violence order and a police allegation he broke her umbrella. 

By ignoring lockdown rules and sneaking into Byron Bay while carrying the coronavirus Radovanovic forced 300,000 residents of the Northern Rivers into isolation for a week.

Health officials said he stopped at several venues in the tourist town during his illegal visit. The lockdown included the Byron, Ballina, Lismore and Richmond Valley local government areas.

Radovanovic, from Rose Bay in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, spent two weeks in Lismore Base Hospital suffering Covid after leaving a trail of potential contagion across the popular holiday region.

His 19-year-old son Kristian, who joined Radovanovic on the eight-hour 750km journey north, also contracted Covid as did his teenage daughter. 

All three were treated in Lismore Base Hospital, while their mother, who did not go on the trip, spent time in hospital in Sydney. 

NSW public health orders had technically allowed locked-down Sydney residents an exemption to travel if they were ‘inspecting a potential new place of residence’. 

Radovanovic claimed he had been in Byron Bay to legally inspect a property but police found he did not have a reasonable excuse to leave Sydney.

He said in late August he had not violated stay-at-home orders and would not have left home if he knew he was Covid-positive. 

‘You think I knew I had corona in my pocket and took it and then went up there?’ he told the Daily Telegraph. ‘No, it’s ridiculous, what kind of imbecile would do that?’

‘I’ve done nothing wrong, I want to tell my story.’ He never did. 

It had been unclear how Radovanovic managed to leave Australia during border closures which prevented citizens from flying internationally without an exemption. 

Radovanovic’s lawyer David Newham told Daily Mail Australia his client had flown to Serbia in September to care for his 82-year-old mother in Belgrade after she underwent surgery for which there was a two-year waiting list. 

‘He and his immediate family are her only surviving relatives and he travelled there with his son Kristian for her round-the-clock care,’ Mr Newham said. 

‘He understands the warrant situation awaiting him in Sydney as a result of his Public Health Act matters and upon his return, will co-operate with the process to be undertaken.’

Daily Mail Australia revealed Radovanovic had left the country when he was supposed to front Downing Centre Local Court on October 28 over the domestic violence allegations involving his wife. 

‘The client is overseas and has a new address in Serbia,’ magistrate Michael Barko said.

Radovanovic’s neighbours said at the time he had split from his wife and that removalists had filled a shipping container outside their rented house the previous week.

Ms MacDowell remained on the property with the family’s two dog and a black Mercedes SUV.

Radovanovic and his family had been living at Rose Bay since they sold a home in his wife’s name at Forestville in 2020 for $2.25million. 

Radovanovic pleaded guilty through Mr Newham in Lismore Local Court on October 11 to four counts of failing to use QR codes but did not appear in person or by audio-visual link.

He was not in the same court on November 15 when pleas were entered on his behalf to three counts of not complying with a Covid direction but magistrate Jeff Linden said being in Serbia did not breach Radovanovic’s bail conditions.

Waverley Local Court heard on December 20 that Kristian was also in Serbia with his father helping look after his grandmother. 

Mr Newham suggested Kristian had been led by his father when they headed off on their Northern Rivers escapade. 

Kristian did not appear that day when he was sentenced to fines totalling $35,000 after pleading guilty to various public health breaches. 

For not using a QR code and failing to wear a mask in a general store he was fined $5,000 and $7,500 respectively, and for not wearing a mask nor using a QR code in a taxi he was fined $12,500 and $10,000.

Kristian’s father was also not in Lismore Local Court on December 20 when magistrate Michael Dakin issued a warrant for his arrest. He recently skipped another court date in Sydney.

Radovanovic was due to face Downing Centre Local Court on May 24 when police sought the apprehended violence order to protect Ms MacDowell from him.

This time the 52-year-old was not represented by a lawyer and again failed to appear.

Magistrate Miranda Moody imposed a two-year restraining order to stop Radovanovic from assaulting, threatening, stalking, harassing or intimidating the mother of his children.

Radovanovic had also been charged with destroying or damaging property – a black umbrella belonging to Ms MacDowell – but that matter was withdrawn and dismissed.  

When Radovanovic, who first came to Australia from what was then Yugoslavia on a visitor’s visa in April 1991, returns to face justice remains to be seen.