Investigations by ASIC led to prosecutors laying 279 criminal charges in the last six months of 2019, an increase of 300 percent on the previous six months, the corporate watchdog’s latest report reveals.
A 33-year-old Sydney man faces a charge of conspiring to defraud the Commonwealth for his alleged role in the Plutus Payroll fraud, a scheme that defrauded the Australian Tax Office of more than $105 million over three years.
The jury trial for a criminal cartel case against mobility equipment provider Country Care and two employees is unlikely to start before next year due to restrictions on jury trials caused by the coronavirus pandemic, a judge has said.
A fair trial cannot be conducted in a virtual courtroom, the judge overseeing the criminal case against former NSW Labor ministers Eddie Obeid and Ian Macdonald has said in adjourning their hearing for five months.
Westpac is still locked in mediation with AUSTRAC over allegations that it committed over 23 million breaches of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws, with the bank’s hopes of moving to a penalty hearing in the early part of the year fading.
For the lawyers conducting the committal hearings in the criminal cartel case over ANZ’s $2.5 billion equity raising, the Sydney Downing Centre courtroom was already too close for comfort.
Hong Kong-based casino group Melco Resorts must hand over documents claimed to be privileged to a NSW public inquiry into James Packer’s Crown Resorts, with an appeals court ruling the inquiry had the power of a royal commission.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has scored a victory before the High Court, with the court unanimously finding that the term “officer” under the Corporations Act is not limited to those that hold official positions within a company.
A former Maple Brown Abbott analyst has pleaded guilty to insider trading and communicating inside information in relation to $1.6 million in shares of collapsed video company Big Un.
Former Bellamy’s Australia director Jan Cameron has been charged by prosecutors after an ASIC investigation over her alleged failure to disclose her substantial stake in the organic baby food company.