The former chief executive officer of Hastie Services has admitted to asking staff to make up for a shortfall between forecast and actual profits at the firm, but claims he made the order with the expectation it would be done legally, the jury hearing a criminal case against him was told.
A former finance manager from Hastie Services and key witness for the prosecution in the criminal trial against two of the company’s former executives only pointed the finger at former COO Ian Thompson to avoid jail time herself, a jury has heard.
The former CEO of a unit of collapsed construction firm Hastie Group told staff to “raid the balance books” to make up financial targets linked to his bonus, prosecutors said at the outset of a two-month criminal trial.
A battle over expert evidence in an invester class action against Fitch Ratings has delayed this month’s scheduled trial in the case by three months and forced the court to send the parties’ experts into conclaves.
Banking giant Westpac has criticised the Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s old fashioned approach to home loan serviceability, saying its own complex system is more efficient and would “pass muster” in the face of the regulator’s allegations that it breached responsible lending laws.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has narrowed its case against Westpac ahead of a high-stakes trial over the bank’s alleged violations of lending laws, striking claims that certain home loans were unsuitable for consumers.
Multiple Canberra property developers have been accused of deliberately trying to avoid repaying GST to home buyers at the outset of a class action trial involving almost 500 apartment owners.
Facing cross-examination on the second day of her defamation hearing against former Senator David Leyonhjelm, Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young denied she suggested all men were collectively responsible for violence against women when she said “men behave like morons and like pigs” in a television interview.
An Australian Rugby League Commission rule barring St George Illawarra Dragons forward Jack de Belin from taking the field is “draconian” and “unfair”, a court has heard at the beginnig of a three day trial challenging the ‘no-fault’ rule.
Actor Geoffrey Rush has been awarded at least $850,000 in damages after taking Nationwide News to court alleging it defamed him by tainting him as a sexual predator, with the judge calling the publisher’s conduct “improper and unjustified”.