One of the alleged principals of a nine year old funny money failure in Melbourne will stand trial on 136 criminal charges.Anthony Nicholls, 61, of Mitcham, will stand trial in the Victorian County Court in May 2015. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission publicised the charges yesterday.Nicholls pleaded not guilty to the charges.ASIC accuses Nicholls of misconduct while he was a director of  Zantholls International Pty Ltd and Peton Properties Pty Ltd between 2004 and 2006.The charges relate to losses suffered by about 20 people who invested A$2.68 million with the companies, ASIC said.The money was to be used for property developments in Ballarat, Victoria. ASIC alleges the developments were not capable of being developed in the manner or timeframe described to investors, and that the money was instead dissipated.It also alleges that Nicholls dishonestly authorised the withdrawal of $1.8 million from a Peton Properties bank account and a solicitors trust account to be used for his own benefit, the benefit of his co-director Peter Scully and for the financial obligations of The Key Result Pty Ltd.The Key Result entered liquidation in November 2005 after ABC's 'Inside Business' originally reported on the existence and collapse of the scheme.The mechanics of the scheme were that The Key Result persuaded existing home owners with plenty of equity to gear up their loan and to advance those funds as a home loan to another borrower (in a cheaper suburb). The Key Result in some fashion controlled the entire expenses of this second borrower who was in effect repaying the loan of the first borrower. The borrowers of this second category of home loans pledged most or all of their income to the scheme.