Another Harts director faces the music
Former executive director of Harts Australasia, Maxwell John Sweetman, has faced insider trading charges levelled against him by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) following an appearance at committal proceedings in the Brisbane Magistrates Court.
Sweetman was responsible for all finance and administration related activities of the formerly publicly listed company, and was committed to appear in court after he failed to enter a plea on two counts of insider trading.
ASIC alleges that Sweetman performed insider trading when he sold 350,000 Harts Australasia shares early in January 2001, only weeks before the company announced to theAustralian Stock Exchange(ASX) an anticipated loss before tax of $9.7 million.
It was the ASX which originally blew the whistle early in 2001, reporting concerns about unusual trading in Harts Australasia shares to ASIC.
In October 2001, ASIC successfully applied to the Federal Court of Australia to have liquidators appointed to the company, while founder and former executive chairman of Harts, Steve Hart, was arrested and charged with 11 counts of tax-related fraud.
Harts exited the financial services industry in disgrace after the company’s liquidation and revocation of the group’s securities licence the following month.
With losses of around $93 million in the preceding 12 months, the Harts group was then split up with its 36 subsidiaries, including First Mortgage Corporation and Harts Securities, wound up or sold off.
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