The man who knows where the bodies are: [T WA First Edition]
Steven Scott, Alison Rawle, John Stapleton. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 17 Dec 2003: 4.
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Abstract
The most infamous of these involved Charles Abbott, a non- executive director of HIH and long-time colleague of the insurer’s final chief executive, Randolph Wein. Abbott’s last cheque was cleared the evening before HIH folded, when Howard sent a junior accounts clerk across the Sydney Harbour Bridge by train, after the banks had closed, to have it processed.
The HIH royal commission heard that Howard approved more than $16 million in payments for Cooper and his businesses in the six months leading up to theinsurer’s $5.3billion collapse. Howard denied at the commission that a new top-of-the-range $118,000 fern-green BMW convertible, of which he took delivery after Cooper introduced him to contacts in the motor trade, was in fact a bribe for channelling millions of HIH dollars to Cooper. Howard said he had decided to buy the car because he was having a “mid-life crisis”.
Former HIH director and FAI chief executive Rodney Adler faces five criminal charges for buying 3 million HIH shares using HIH money. He challenged thecharges this week. The judge reserved his decision until next year. Adler has already been fined $900,000, banned from boardrooms for 20 years and ordered to pay $9 million in compensation for breaching his duties as a director.
Full Text
BILL Howard was the former finance manager for HIH Insurance and, as the paymaster for the disgraced company, knew where all the bodies were buried.
If he didn’t always know what deals were done — and many bizarre deals were done in HIH’s frantic dying days — he at least knew where the money was going, and he went out of his way in some cases to make sure the arrangements were honoured.
The most infamous of these involved Charles Abbott, a non- executive director of HIH and long-time colleague of the insurer’s final chief executive, Randolph Wein. Abbott’s last cheque was cleared the evening before HIH folded, when Howard sent a junior accounts clerk across the Sydney Harbour Bridge by train, after the banks had closed, to have it processed.
Howard’s lawyers claimed to the HIH royal commission that he was only following orders in handing out millions of dollars in payments during HIH’s final days, and was “shocked” when the liquidators came knocking.
The relationship between Howard and Cooper has always been interesting.
They first met in late 2000. Cooper was then majority shareholder in the FAI subsidiary Homeland Security International. When HIH acquired FAI, they also acquired Cooper.
Cooper was known for his obsessive persistence. He threatened to sleep in the HIH foyer unless outgoing chief executive Ray Williams agreed to see him. Williams referred him to Howard.
Cooper recalled at the royal commission their first meeting: “He looked at me like the rest of the people at HIH did, like I was a dope. Just sat there and looked and said, `Well, what’s all this? Another lump of FAI crap’.”
The HIH royal commission heard that Howard approved more than $16 million in payments for Cooper and his businesses in the six months leading up to theinsurer’s $5.3billion collapse. Howard denied at the commission that a new top-of-the-range $118,000 fern-green BMW convertible, of which he took delivery after Cooper introduced him to contacts in the motor trade, was in fact a bribe for channelling millions of HIH dollars to Cooper. Howard said he had decided to buy the car because he was having a “mid-life crisis”.
He was handed the keys to the car by an assistant of Cooper’s a fortnight before the HIH collapse, without paying anything or signing any documentation. Asked if he ever wondered why he was driving around in a car he hadn’t paid for, he replied: “I thought it was certainly impressive.”
It was at this time that Cooper bombarded Howard with calls, sometimes more than 10 a day, demanding the settlement of old share deals.
Howard was also involved, with Cooper in the aborted sale of a parcel of HIH properties to Kerry Packer. The deal fell through when it became clear some of those properties were encumbered, but Cooper claimed an introduction fee.
On Howard’s instructions, Mr Cooper and his partner Ben Tilley were wired a $1.9million success fee for setting up the property sale by HIH to the Packer family interests which never took place.
Another payment over which the two argued involved $275,000 in relocation expenses from an office on which Cooper never paid rent.
Former HIH financial services general manager Bill Howard has pleaded guilty to two counts of criminal misconduct, for receiving $124,000 to facilitate $4.9 million in payments to Cooper plus debt forgiveness of $1.79 million. In light of Howard’s ‘ongoing co- operation’, ASIC chairman David Knott, right, agrees with the commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions’ submission that he receive a non-custodial sentence.
Entrepreneur Bradley Cooper faces six counts of corruptly giving cash benefit to Howard and four counts of publishing a false or misleading statement with theintent of obtaining a financial advantage. He faces jail if convicted.
In the line of fire:
HIH founder and former chief executive officer Ray Williams has been banned from boardrooms for 10 years after breaching his duties as a director and fined $250,000. The royal commission recommended possible charges for providing false or misleading information. But he has not been charged.
Former HIH chief financial officer Dominic Fodera has not been charged.
The royal commission recommended possible charges, including for signing accounts knowing that reinsurance contracts were not genuine. He has been fined $5000 for breaching his duties as a director.
Former HIH director and FAI chief executive Rodney Adler faces five criminal charges for buying 3 million HIH shares using HIH money. He challenged thecharges this week. The judge reserved his decision until next year. Adler has already been fined $900,000, banned from boardrooms for 20 years and ordered to pay $9 million in compensation for breaching his duties as a director.
Former FAI chief operating officer Daniel Wilkie, left, and former finance director Timothy Mainprize were the first executives charged since the HIH royal commission. They face a committal hearing next year charged with providing false information and failing to act honestly as officers of the insurer. They face jail if convicted.