Author Topic: Perth Talk (Read 62106 times)

PoisonPen7 · « 2019-Dec-02, 08:56 PM **Reply #175** »

Woman becomes third person charged over alleged multi-million-dollar WA public sector fraud

WA Police have charged a third person over an alleged multi-million-dollar corruption scheme involving the state's Department of Communities.

A 45-year-old woman is facing nine charges of official corruption, stemming from the allegations previously laid against former senior public executive Paul Whyte and another man, Jacob Anthonisz.

Mr Anthonisz and the woman are not public servants.

Mr Whyte and Mr Anthonisz were originally charged with using fake invoices to fraudulently take $2.5 million in taxpayers' money, but police later revealed in court the final amount allegedly stolen could be up to $25 million.

Police are now alleging the 45-year-old Beechboro woman "acted in concert with the two men already charged as part of this investigation".

She is due to appear in court on December 16.

The allegations of corruption have shocked the WA Government.

Until his sacking last month, Mr Whyte was one of the state's most senior employees, employed as an assistant director general of the Department of Communities.

The charges have prompted the Government to set up a Public Sector Commission inquiry into the agency and tighten oversight and spending rules across departments.

Extent of racing interests becoming clear

Officials have also been probing Mr Whyte and Mr Anthonisz's interests in the racing industry, believing the pair owned around 100 racehorses between them in Australia and New Zealand.

That includes horses they owned in their entirety and others in which they held a syndicate stake, with those assets now frozen by the Corruption and Crime Commission.

WA Racing Minister Paul Papalia said some of animals would be cared for on a new Government-owned property to cater for retired racehorses, while others could be sold.

"There is some value to the horses, they are frozen assets," Mr Papalia said.

"Ultimately the whole thing will be resolved through either passing back to ownership through syndicates or sale of the horses."

Mr Papalia said it cost about $60 a week to care for each horse."

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-12-02/woman-charged-over-wa-department-communities-corruption/

PoisonPen7 · « 2019-Dec-02, 08:58 PM **Reply #176** »

WA Racing Minister Paul Papalia said some of animals would be cared for on a new Government-owned property to cater for retired racehorses, while others could be sold.

Well there ya go animal activists.

Some of the horses will be cared for by the Government.

That will make napes extremely happy

Jeunes · « 2019-Dec-03, 05:33 AM **Reply #177** »

Quote from: PoisonPen7 on 2019-Dec-02, 08:58 PM

WA Racing Minister Paul Papalia said some of animals would be cared for on a new Government-owned property to cater for retired racehorses, while others could be sold.

Well there ya go animal activists.

Some of the horses will be cared for by the Government.

That will make napes extremely happy

PP, any reference to the names of the horses that are currently racing which are in limbo? I had a look but could not find any.

Quite interesting what will happen to the training fees etc

PoisonPen7 · « 2019-Dec-04, 12:01 AM **Reply #178** »

Quote from: Jeunes on 2019-Dec-03, 05:33 AM

PP, any reference to the names of the horses that are currently racing which are in limbo? I had a look but could not find any.

Quite interesting what will happen to the training fees etc

Black type mare that raced in Qld as Volkoff trained by Bryan Guy

And sobig posted these WA horses

Art Series, Rebel King, Rebel Knight, Rapid Eye Movement, Rewrite the Stars and The Big Show.

PoisonPen7 · « 2019-Dec-12, 01:18 AM **Reply #179** »

Ladbrokes Coral, BetEasy in the race for WA’s TAB

Ladbrokes Coral and BetEasy are both believed to be in the contest for the West Australian TAB, taking on the favourite Tabcorp.

The sales process is understood to be into the second stage after first round bids were due on October 28. Second round bids are due in January and a sale is expected to be finalised in June.

The operation is likely to be sold for more than $300m, and if funding that is returned to the industry had been included the price would be far higher.

Global wagering groups such as Ladbrokes already operate in Australia out of the Northern Territory. They chose the base for tax benefits, but those have since been offset by legal changes surrounding a point-of-consumption tax for betting.

Australia is the second-largest regulated sports betting market in the world.

Ladbrokes Coral is British with its global base in London. It has been subject to corporate activity in recent years, buying Gala Coral last year and then being bought by GVC Holdings.

BetEasy owns Crown’s former CrownBet business, which was purchased early last year for $150m from The Stars. It operates primarily in Australia.

Last year, The Stars reinstated the BetEasy brand following the integration of William Hill Australia into CrownBet.

The Stars acquired an 80 per cent interest in the combined companies through a series of transactions between February and April last year.

Now The Stars is expected to be subject to a $US6bn global merger next year with London-listed Flutter Entertainment, which is the owner of Sportsbet.

This month, bookmaker Matthew Tripp made a $250m exit from BetEasy after securing a deal to sell the remainder of his shareholding in The Stars, which is listed in Toronto.

Mr Tripp was a pioneer in Australia’s online betting market and son of famous bookmaker Alan, who purchased online bookmaker Sportsbet in 2005 for $250,000.

Sportsbet was transformed into a market leader before it was sold in two transactions, finalised in a $338m deal with Paddy Power Betfair, which is now Flutter.

Tabcorp is Australia’s largest wagering group and already operates TABs throughout the country except WA. For that reason, the $9.82bn gambling group is tipped as the frontrunner to buy the business, and is likely to be working with investment bank UBS for the competition.

However, a consolidation play exists for a newcomer, with the New Zealand TAB expected to be up for sale soon and the Victoria TAB licence up for renewal in 2023.

Major synergies exist for a group owning more than one TAB because betting is dependent on the same systems and IT platforms that support the business. Marketing also becomes an easier exercise.

The launch of the sale process by the WA government comes after consultation with the racing industry and broader community and the passing of legislation through state parliament.

Bridget Carter
DataRoom Editor

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/dataroom/ladbrokes-coral-beteasy-in-the-race-for-was-tab/