White Collar

The High Court will not hear mining magnate Clive Palmer’s challenge to a court’s finding that lawsuits he brought challenging two criminal cases against him over a takeover bid and alleged payments to his political party were an abuse of process and should be stayed.

A judge has left open the question of whether a line of authority relating to the materiality of information under the continuous disclosure regime could be relevant to a stoush between collapsed engineering firm Forge Group and Clough Group, saying the decisions may apply to cases alleging breaches of the insider trading provisions of the Corporations Act.

Former BitConnect national promoter John Louis Bigatton has pleaded guilty over his role in marketing the online cryptocurrency platform, a global Ponzi scheme that reached a market capitalisation of $5 billion before its collapse.

A former AlphaThorn investment manager has pleaded guilty to charges of forging performance reports for two products to woo potential investors.

The NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption says it is seeking advice from the Director of Public Prosecution about whether prosecutions should be commenced against nine men, including several Downer EDI employees, after an investigation revealed “serious corrupt conduct” on transport projects.

The corporate regulator is seeking to stay proceedings brought by Clive Palmer challenging the lawfulness of a seven year-old compulsory examination being used in a criminal case against him, arguing the billionaire’s litigation is an abuse of process.

Aussie Skips is not appealing a finding that it engaged in serious criminal cartel conduct but will challenge the size of the $3.5 million penalty, a court has been told.

The founder of ASX-listed bottled water company Eneco Refresh has been slapped with an 18-month suspended sentence after pleading guilty to market manipulation.

A criminal case against Facebook owner Meta sparked by mining magnate Andrew Forrest over scam cryptocurrency ads has been dropped, while a similar case by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission remains on foot.

A class action seeking to hold a regional NSW law firm liable for the actions of a former employee who was sentenced to a term of imprisonment for fraud offences in 2021 has reached a settlement.