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you obviously didn't read it
they didn't co-operate and there was no evidence, no one said they were innocent
I dont see you getting any apologies here
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Lets hope they get the FULL report...News ltd directors were in charge of the accounts through their subsidiary company, Waldron was their paid employee not Storms etc etc etc. Hmmmm....Get ready to bend over Melbourne here come the big boys, and unfortunately you do not have the choice to cooperate or not. Warrants will be taken out and you can do nothing to hide the truth, all information will be found. The funniest thing iswhen dealing with the ATO if any records are destroyed it makes no difference. he onus is on you to provide evidence to refute the electronic paper trail ie.evidence. Here's hoping Karma pays everone a visit who knowingly breached the cap.
Long arm of justice to tackle the guilty
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...ackle-the-guilty/story-e6frexs0-1225892377855
By Nick Tabakoff
MELBOURNE Storm officials found guilty of criminal breaches could face up to 10 years in jail as the law enforcement net tightens around those behind the salary cap rort.
The Victorian Police fraud squad, the Tax Office and the Victorian Office of State Revenue are among the bodies set to investigate the findings of a Deloitte audit of the Storm's salary cap deceit. Company law experts said last night a criminal investigation into possible breaches of the Corporations Act would examine whether directors - including the Storm CEO at the time of the rorts, Brian Waldron - acted with care and honesty. Further investigations could centre on whether there had been fraud or tax evasion at the club. Company officials, players and third parties could all be affected. On one of the club's darkest days, John Hartigan, chairman and chief executive of club owner News Limited (publisher of The Daily Telegraph), yesterday revealed the extent of the cap rorts was far greater than thought when the scandal broke in April.
He also said the company had sacked the Storm's four independent directors, who have launched legal action against the NRL over the punishment handed to the club. Mr Hartigan has frequently named Mr Waldron as the "chief architect" of the scheme.
Total breaches by the Storm are now estimated at $3.2 million for the five years to 2010 - more than 80 per cent higher than the original $1.7 million estimate. "The club engaged in wide-ranging and elaborate cheating and must take its medicine," Mr Hartigan said. NRL chief David Gallop yesterday described the rorting as "a level of deception that was extraordinary". Mr Hartigan said the club was referring the Deloitte report to Victoria Police. It is understood this will be lodged in coming days.
"There's also been interest from the Australian Tax Office and ... from the Victorian State Revenue," he said. Any ATO inquiry could affect former Melbourne Storm management, players and some third-party companies the club arranged to "employ" and pay players. All Storm players and most club officials from the time of the rorts did not co-operate with the Deloitte investigation. They are likely to be forced to co-operate once the police and ATO become involved.
Experts said there could also be criminal breaches leading to prison time under both the Corporations Act and tax law for Storm officials.
Professor Michael Adams, head of the University of Western Sydney's law school, said the seriousness of the allegations in the Deloitte report suggested some company officials could face jail terms if convicted.
"If you look at the Rodney Adler case, the sentence was in the five to 10 year range," he said. "You would assume that, given the level of seriousness of possible crimes, it could be similar here."
The most obvious legal breach could come under Corporations Law provisions dealing with the need for company officials to act truthfully.
Company officers found to be "acting dishonestly" in their duties are liable for up to five years jail and a fine of up to $220,000. Mr Adams said provisions for fraud under Victoria's Crimes Act potentially allowed for jail terms of multiple years. Tax could also be a major issue for many connected to the Storm at both a civil and criminal level. Mr Hartigan said the damning Deloitte report found "free flights, gift vouchers, the use of fully maintained cars and so on (for players). They were either never disclosed or were written up as something else". He also revealed the main method used to rort the salary cap involved payments to players via third parties.
The third parties used by the five club managers included a charity called the Unity Foundation and The McManus Group, which is run by promoter Andrew McManus. Institute of Chartered Accountants' tax boss Yasser el-Ansary said many of the free gifts, and payments to players via third parties, were likely to attract ATO interest. He said there would likely be an ATO inquiry into "any undeclared income" not stated by players.
One source close to the Storm audit said last night: "If a player cannot produce a group certificate for income they have received they are going to be accountable."
The ATO is now likely to fully investigate questionable third-party invoices and payments. "The ATO will see if tax has been underpaid, and if so, whether the tax that has been underpaid has arisen because of a deliberate fraud or evasion of tax liabilities," he said. Because of the false invoices at the heart of the Storm scandal, the correct level of tax may not have been paid at a number of levels, including payroll tax, GST and possibly income tax. Mr el-Ansary pointed out it was "not unusual for serious tax fraud to be punished by the courts with hefty, multiple-year jail terms". Given the high profile of the Storm, Mr el-Ansary believed the ATO may want to make an example. The Deloitte report found there was no evidence any of the directors of the Storm were aware of the existence of salary cap breaches.
A message to the ones who cheated from the investigators that are coming.
