ASIC charges Opes Prime directors
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has initiated legal proceedings against the directors of Opes Prime Stockbroking Limited.
The regulator announced today that it had charged the directors of Opes Prime, Lirim (Laurie) Emini, Julian Smith and Anthony Blumberg, with directors duties offences.
Opes Prime was placed in administration and receivers and managers were appointed in March 2008, with the company owing about $630 million.
ASIC said Smith had been arrested on Friday and appeared in court in Sydney while Blumberg had been arrested today and had appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates Court.
Both men were granted conditional bail to appear in the Melbourne Magistratese Court on January 29.
Emini has been charged on summons to appear on the same day.
Emini, Smith and Blumberg have each been charged with two offences of breaching their duties as directors of Opes Prime Stockbroking and two offences of breaching their duties as directors of Opes Prime Group Limited.
ASIC has alleged that shortly before Opes Prime collapsed, the directors signed financial documentation with ANZ Bank to obtain a term loan and pledged the companies’ assets as security to meet the obligations of a third company, Leveraged Capital Pty Ltd.
The regulator has alleged that, by doing so, the directors were intentionally dishonest and failed to exercise their powers and discharge their duties in good faith in the best interests of the companies.
It is further alleged that, in doing so, the directors dishonestly used their position with the intention of directly or indirectly gaining an advantage for themselves or someone else.
AUTHOR
Mike Taylor
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