Victorian Nationals MP Tim McCurdy has blamed "people who've got an axe to grind" on property sale fraud charges against him after they were tossed out mid-trial by a judge.
The Ovens Valley MP was accused of using false documents, and obtaining and attempting to obtain property by deception, relating to nearly $270,000 in commissions from his former career in real estate.
Five charges against him were on Wednesday thrown out by Victorian County Court Judge George Georgiou, who discharged the jury part way through the trial and ordered not guilty verdicts be entered.
"Even taking the prosecution evidence at its highest, you could not lawfully convict Mr McCurdy on any of (the) charges," the judge said.
Three counts of using a false document, and one count each of obtaining and attempting to obtain property by deception, stemmed from the 2009 sales of two dairy farms near Cobram.
Mr McCurdy was alleged to have falsely used the real estate agency letterheads of a former colleague in the sales, netting himself commissions worth $269,005.
Outside court, the MP told journalists he and his family were relieved and "absolutely delighted with the result".
"This has been 10 years of false allegations and we're pleased to see it come to the end that it has," he said.
"This has been a long journey for it us, it's been a horrible journey for our family."
He pinned the allegations against him on "a few people with dirt under their fingernails" and "people who've got an axe to grind".
"There's people involved in this with their fingerprints all over this and they need to be exposed for these false allegations," he said, but clarified he did not intend to launch any legal action of his own.
He said he'd acted under the direction of his next-door neighbour Andrew Gilmour, whose real estate agency name Mr McCurdy was alleged to have used without approval.
"He was not good in his evidence and he blamed everybody else and he called every other witness a liar. And we just couldn't believe what we heard and neither could the prosecutor," Mr McCurdy said.
He and Mr Gilmour previously both worked for New Zealand company PGG Wrightson Real Estate before it stopped trading in Australia.
Afterwards, it was alleged Mr McCurdy falsely made himself out to be a licensed real estate agent and was accused of dishonestly pocketing a $163,900 commission for the sale of a property called Malmo.
Prosecutor Susan Borg previously told the court Mr McCurdy netted another $105,105 commission through the sale of the other property, known as Pinegrove, legitimately.
But it was alleged he engaged in dishonest conduct in the lead-up to landing that commission, and on that basis was charged with attempting to obtain it by deception.
Defence barrister Ian Hill QC said there had been no deception or dishonesty, and that Mr McCurdy has no criminal case to answer. Judge Georgiou ultimately agreed.
If found guilty, Mr McCurdy would have been forced to resign from parliament, triggering a by-election.
He was elected to the lower house for the seat of Murray Valley in 2010 before winning Ovens Valley in 2014.
The state's Nationals leader, Peter Walsh, said the dismissal of the charges "has proven what we already knew".
"I commend Tim McCurdy on his focus and strong advocacy for the people of Ovens Valley over the course of this process," Mr Walsh said.
