Too good to be true: Sydney exec testifies in $253m Perth fraud trial
Only there was no pot of gold, prosecutor Steven Whybrow, SC, told the Western Australian Supreme Court, just a flimsy scheme kept afloat by the flow of funds being used to pay off old investors that was taking on water fast.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
9 News
14 minutes ago
- 9 News
State MP fights to prevent expulsion from parliament over sex abuse convictions
Your web browser is no longer supported. To improve your experience update it here NSW state MP Gareth Ward has successfully delayed his expulsion from the NSW parliament with last-minute legal action. The Legislative Assembly was to hear a motion to expel the Kiama MP, with a vote scheduled for tomorrow. NSW MP Gareth Ward has successfully delayed his expulsion from the NSW parliament with last-minute legal action.. (Kate Geraghty) But Ward's lawyers won an injunction in the Supreme Court last night to put a stop to it. NSW Premier Chris Minns said this was an "unconscionable situation". "It's an unconscionable situation to have someone who's currently sitting in jail in Silverwater convicted of serious sexual offences, who is demanding to remain a member of parliament and continue to be paid," he said. The government believes it has the right to proceed under the Constitution. "We say that the court has no jurisdiction to prevent any member of parliament from moving a motion," local government minister Ron Hoenig said. In the Court of Appeals today, the state government's lawyers managed to have a hearing on this moved from Friday to Thursday. Friday is the last sitting day of this session, meaning the parliament will not be able to vote again for five weeks. Ward has indicated he will appeal his conviction. Under changes to the law, that would mean he could remain a paid MP until that process was exhausted. Gareth Ward at the Darlinghurst Courthouse in Sydney.. (AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts) "The people of Kiama, for example, could be represented by somebody in custody right up until the next election," Hoenig said. But parliament can also expel an MP for unworthy conduct, which it is seeking to do. "We're not doing this as punishment, we're doing it to protect the integrity of the legislative assembly," Minns said. The state opposition is supporting the government in its fight to expel Ward. "He should resign and do the decent thing by his constituents and if he won't do that, to protect the integrity of the parliament, he must be expelled," Opposition Leader Mark Speakman said. Ward was found guilty of one count of sexual intercourse without consent and three counts of indecent assault relating to incidents with two young men in 2013 and 2015 in July. He has yet to be sentenced and still has time to lodge an appeal of his convictions. He has held the Kiama electorate since 2011, winning three elections under the Liberal banner before securing the 2023 poll as an independent. Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732) . CONTACT US Auto news: Honda here to stay in Australia, announces growth plans.
Sydney Morning Herald
44 minutes ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
NSW politics must be rid of pestilent rapist MP
Politician and convicted rapist Gareth Ward is sitting in Silverwater jail while brazenly refusing to quit his leather seat in the NSW Upper House, an unashamed, unrepentant and immovable object who continues to soil public life even from behind bars. The MP for Kiama since 2011 and a former Liberal minister-turned independent, Ward was found guilty last month of indecently assaulting an 18-year-old man at his Shoalhaven home on the South Coast in 2013 three times and having sexual intercourse without consent with a 24-year-old political staffer in Potts Point in 2015. The 44-year-old's bail was revoked last Wednesday, but he refuses to leave his upper house seat and in a bizarre twist, his lawyers have sought an injunction against the leader of the lower house, Ron Hoenig, and Speaker Greg Piper to stop his expulsion from parliament. Premier Chris Minns confirmed the government would seek an urgent Supreme Court hearing 'to address the matter' to overturn the court's injunctive order ruling. Ward will not be sentenced until September 19. Prosecutor Monika Knowles told the court the day he was convicted that the seriousness of his crimes virtually guaranteed a custodial sentence. But, that may not be the end of the matter: bizarrely, the length of his sentence could impact on his ability to retain his parliamentary seat. Under the NSW Constitution Act, an MP's seat is declared vacant if they are convicted of crime that is punishable by five years or more in prison, although under changes to the law in 2000, conviction is considered to mean 'once you have reached the end of the appeals process, if you choose to appeal, and not had the conviction overturned'. Ward's persistence in keeping his seat has upended the concept of workplace safety and, under the current rules, turned the NSW Parliament into the only workplace in Australia where a convicted rapist is free to keep their job. After his convictions, we called for Ward's resignation and wondered if, should he not be expelled by parliament, suspension would surely follow. The outcome will be decided by the court now, but the upshot is that he cannot adequately represent his electorate while he exhausts all legal options. Ward's grim and thoughtless determination to hold on to his parliament seat and pay packet displays an arrogant contempt for the people of Kiama who voted for him, and a brutal indifference to the harm caused to victims of sexual assaults by a perpetrator allowed to keep the spoils of his public office while stubbornly prolonging the inevitable. Clearly, politicians on all sides need to address the anomaly exposed by Ward's refusal to leave public life: that is, in NSW, as things stand, only five years' jail is a sackable offence. If the Kiama MP is not flouting the rules, it is clear the rules need to be changed.
West Australian
3 hours ago
- West Australian
Commonwealth Bank reveals $45m hit from Bankwest restructure plan
Australia's biggest bank has taken a $130 million hit, partly driven by increased restructuring costs at Bankwest. Commonwealth Bank closed the final remaining metropolitan Bankwest branch in Mandurah at the end of last year as it shifted the 130-year-old Western Australian financial institution to a fully-digital model. Markets were told on Tuesday the price tag of that restructure had lifted by $45m, which will be reflected in CBA's annual results due next week. The extra expenses were driven by the cost of 'transitioning of Bankwest to a digital bank and the transition of Bankwest business banking to CBA', investors were told. The digital-only plan was announced in March last year and was expected to cost 350 jobs. About 60 branches were closed or rebranded as CBA — mostly in regional areas. Commonwealth also announced an extra $85m had been spent on customer remediation, including for Kiwi subsidiary bank ASB. The company did not further clarify those costs but had previously reported ABS was hit by a class action in New Zealand over consumer finance law compliance failures. The full $130m provision will weigh on the company's operating results. Shares in CBA lifted 0.9 per cent to be $176.50 just befor midday.
