Banker charged with attempted murder of Sydney entrepreneur in luxury French hotel

A Sydney banker allegedly tried to kill his Australian partner with a saucepan and boiling water in a luxury French hotel before being arrested 36 hours later trying to flee the country.

David Cao, 37, was detained at the Belgian border by French authorities after a manhunt sparked by the alleged attack on long-time partner Callum Forbes at the Château de Perreux boutique hotel in the Nazelles-Négron area of central France on July 28.

Cao is alleged to have hit Forbes, a Sydney-based entrepreneur, on the head with a hot saucepan and poured boiling water over his body in the violent late night incident. French media have reported the couple checked into the hotel for one night as part of a European holiday, which was to culminate in their attendance at World Pride Amsterdam.

The couple were reportedly staying in one of the ‘cave rooms’ which had been carved into the cliff adjacent to the hotel.

Guests and staff recalled screams from the room, where Forbes was found critically injured and alone by hotel staff.

Cao – who worked at ING at the time of the alleged incident – was arrested almost 500 kilometres north of the hotel in the French city of Lille.

Authorities allege he fled the hotel in a rental car, travelling to Rouen before boarding a train to Paris and onto Lille near the Belgian border. He was detained after disembarking the train.

Cao was charged with attempted murder and held in custody while he awaits trial. French newspaper Ouest France reported additional charges of kidnapping, theft, torture, and acts of barbarity. Local publication La Nouvelle Republique reported that Cao admitted to the attack but not intending to kill his partner, citing a source close to the investigation.

A friend close to Forbes, who spoke to him over the phone from his hospital bed days ago, said he had suffered burns across his body and needed dozens of stitches on his head.

He told this masthead that Forbes and Cao had been in a relationship for two and a half years.

Forbes was the co-founder of Airbnb property management company And Chill, which collapsed in 2019 owing $3.6 million in payments to clients, The Australian reported.

As a University of Sydney student in 2013, he was accused of forging receipts to exceed a spending cap imposed for an election campaign for the university’s law society, according to student newspaper Honi Soit. Forbes issued an apology at the time, writing in a Facebook post that he had “stuffed up”, according to reporting in The Australian.

He now operates an online Telehealth business after selling other businesses since the collapse of And Chill.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is providing consular assistance to Forbes, who continues to recover in hospital. He hopes to return to Sydney with his mother within a week.

Cao had worked as the head of retail value creation at ING in Sydney since May, after serving as Westpac’s head of diversity, equity and inclusion for almost 18 months. He had been on leave from work for several weeks at the time of the incident.

ING chief executive Melanie Evans said Cao was a “former employee” in an email to bank staff, seen by this masthead.

“This is a deeply distressing story and might be cause for concern or impact you,” she said.

“The alleged actions of one individual do not define the thousands of people at ING who come to work each day committed to doing the right thing.”

The 37-year-old has also been on the board of LGBTQIA+ Rainbow Giving Australia Foundation since January. The organisation has been contacted for comment.

Cao served as president of the University of Sydney’s Business School Society, according to his LinkedIn, after graduating from Sydney Boys High School with a 99.8 UAI. DFAT was also working to contact Cao.

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