scook and hardy acquitted

Fridays Business news.......

Business partners Dean Scook and Carol Hardie were today acquitted in Western Australia's District Court on charges stemming from $1 million in payments made by the now collapsed MIS company Southern Wine Corporation Ltd.

The charges followed the collapse of Southern Wine in 2003 and related to money paid by the company in 2000 to a former business partner of the pair, who had helped develop the financial model and establish the managed investment schemes which were ultimately used in the structure of the ill-fated Preston Vale vineyard near Donnybrook.

Ms Hardie, a director of Southern Wine, was charged with stealing more than $1 million in early 2000 in three tranches to pay South African ex-patriate Ian Nairn, who died late last year before the proceedings came to trial.

Mr Scook was charged with aiding Ms Hardie in relation to one tranche of the payments worth $405,000.

Mr Scook is currently in prison following his conviction in November on 158 counts of insider trading in the shares of Intrepid Mining Corporation Ltd.

The case against the pair hinged on the fact that Mr Nairn had sought a settlement for work done in partnership with the pair in relation to the development of the vineyard and other projects.

That settlement for consulting work was paid for by Southern Wine, a company which, the prosecution submitted, received no benefit for that outlay.

In finding for Ms Hardie, Judge Julie Anne Wager found that she was not satisfied that the the accused was acting dishonestly.

In her judgement Judge Wager found that the financial management and accounts of Southern Wine were poor and that the board failed to follow its own policies in terms of making such large payments.

However, she said that Ms Hardie's lack of experience as well as her integrity, as presented by a series of positive character witnesses, was an important factor.

"Ms Hardie's conduct reflects poor business skills and a failure to fulfil her responsibilities as a director of SWC (Southern Wine) or to follow the policies of SWC," Judge Wager said.

"When considered in light of her honesty and integrity in other business dealings there is a reasonable inference open that she acted for reasons other than dishonesty."


Below is a press release on the matter from ASIC:


Ms Carol Norma Hardie and Mr Dean George Scook were today acquitted in the District Court of Western Australia of stealing funds from the Southern Wine Corporation Ltd (SWC).

SWC was the former responsible entity of two vineyard-based managed investment schemes. The vineyards are located near Donnybrook in Western Australia.

Ms Hardie, a former director of SWC, was charged with three counts of stealing as a director following an investigation by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). Mr Scook, while not a director of SWC was involved in its management, was charged with one count of aiding Ms Hardie in the theft of $405,000.

Ms Hardie was accused of stealing the sum of $1,013,500 by signing three cheques, totalling that amount, which were then drawn on SWC's bank account. It was alleged this occurred in the period between January 2000 and March 2000.

Mr Scook is in custody where he is serving 14 months of a three-year sentence imposed on him in November 2007 following his conviction on 158 counts of insider trading in the shares of Intrepid Mining Corporation Ltd.

The matter was prosecuted by the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions.

Background
The charges against Ms Hardie and Mr Scook arose from an ASIC investigation following the collapse of SWC in July 2003. SWC is in liquidation.