Dozens Charged with Participating in a Criminal Group
Dozens of people have been arrested and charged by police for participating in a criminal group, many of whom are parents with young children with no prior criminal record. Almost 40 people have been arrested in the Western and South...
Cartel Offences in Australia: The Crime of Anti-Competitive Conduct
Japanese shipping company Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd - also known as K-Line - was fined $34.5 million over cartel conduct in the Federal Court last month. K-Line admitted to engaging in anti-competitive conduct with other shipping companies between July 2009...
“A Step Too Far”: Morrison Moves to Criminalise Cash Payments
Right now, the Morrison government is finalising legislation that will criminalise large cash transactions made to or accepted by individuals and businesses for goods and services transactions. The cash payment limit that will soon warrant prison time if breached is...
Paying Cash? You Could End Up In Prison
A proposed new law would make paying more than $10,000 in cash for goods or services a criminal offence. The proposed changes were first announced in the 2018-19 budget, and a draft of the legislation, called the Currency (Restrictions on...
Prosecuting Whistleblower Richard Boyle Is Against the Public Interest
Former ATO officer Richard Boyle will stand trial before a jury in the District Court of South Australia on 66 charges - which carry a total maximum penality of 161 years behind bars - for exposing the tax office misappropriating...
General Electric Accused of $US38 Billion Fraud
Harry Markopoulos is a private financial investigator who claims to use various mathematical techniques to determine the accuracy of statements released by companies regarding their financial positions. He is best known for making detailed written submissions to the United States...
The Offence of Obtaining a Benefit by Deception
A former senior executive of Seven West Media, the owners of television Channel 7, was granted conditional bail on 25 July 2019 after being charged with multiple offences arising from his alleged misappropriation of $8 million in company funds. 57-year...
Tax Office Attacks Client Legal Privilege
During his speech at the Law Society’s 2016 Opening of Term Dinner, NSW Chief Justice Tom Bathurst made clear he had identified 397 state laws that encroach upon three fundamental legal protections alone – the presumption of innocence, the right...
Centrelink’s Flawed Robo-Debt System is Killing Our Most Vulnerable
The story of Devi Barker, one of Centrelink’s robo-debt victims has put the flawed Government automated debt-recovery system back into the spotlight. Her story is not dissimilar to thousands of other Australians in the same predicament: accused of racking up...
Banker Sent to Prison for Fraud
The former banker who defrauded the NAB for $640,000 over a period of four years by exploiting its ‘introducer’ scheme has been sentenced to eight months behind bars. In 2015 Andrew Matthews was celebrated by the bank for his work...