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Ex-Employee Denies Defrauding Ministry Of Finance Of $400,000
Two Israeli banks have paid $137 million to draw a curtain on the expanding pursuit of tax fraud cases related to the Binetter family, the founders of the Nudie Juice business, in a weekend settlement.
Israel Discount Bank and its subsidiary, Mercantile Discount Bank, signed off on the settlement for 343 million Israeli shekels with Australian liquidator John Sheahan at 5pm on Sunday afternoon, the latest dividend in a colourful 16-year pursuit by the Australian Taxation Office which so far has realised about $210 million in tax payments, penalties and interest.
Former Nudie chief Andrew Binetter was part of $45 million tax settlement by Binetters which paved the way for the Israeli case. Linked-In
It is believed to be one of the largest tax settlements by Israeli banks for a single family client, the Binetters, whom the banks helped to hide income from the ATO through the use of back-to-back loans. Bank Hapaolim made a $US875 million settlement with the US Justice Department for similar cases last year and Mizrahi-Tefahot Bank made a $US195 million settlement in 2019, but these both involved hundreds of clients.
The IDB settlement raises questions over how many other Australians used similar back-to-back loans through Israel and elsewhere.
“I suspect this is just the tip of the iceberg,” Mr Sheahan, who is the liquidator of 13 former Binetter family companies, told The Australian Financial Review.
IDB, which made no admission of culpability in the settlement agreement, said in a statement that it had appointed a former judge to conduct an independent inquiry into the conduct of the bank.
IDB’s insurer will pay $US55 million ($72 million) of the settlement amount, the bank said.
Mr Sheahan, who praised the high level of expertise and support provided by the Tax Office, said he hoped to raise further funds for the ATO, which is still owed $80 million to $85 million.
“There are some interesting potential claims we’re looking at both in North America and Israel.”
The colourful saga of how the fortune founded by Emil and Erwin Binetter came unstuck began when ATO’s Operation Wickenby investigators found a reference to back-to-back loans for the Binetters in the laptop of British accountant Philip Egglishaw, which Australian Federal Police seized in 2004.
Subsequently, several Binetter family members and a former Israeli bank executive gave sworn evidence that the unsecured loans that their companies obtained from Israeli banks were arm’s length.
The courts have heard colourful allegations of efforts to defeat ATO inquiries through the courts, including a plan to hire someone to destroy bank records in Israel.
In 2014 after the ATO obtained bank records through the Israeli courts which revealed the back-to-back loans – showing that the Binetters were in effect lending their own money and paying interest to themselves – the family appointed liquidators to the $2 companies in Australia that held the loans.
The initial liquidator reported that there were no claims that the companies could pursue.
The ATO replaced the liquidator with insolvency firm Sheahan Lock, which took the novel tactic of suing the Binetter family members for breach of directors’ duties which had led to the huge tax debt. This approach has raised $210 million to date.
“These cases involved elaborate and complex structures. Investigating such cases requires specialist skills, dedication, and tenacity,” Assistant Commissioner Aislinn Walwyn said. “The settlement justifies the efforts of the ATO teams over a number of years.”
Andrew and Michael Binetter made a $45 million settlement with the ATO in October 2018, in an agreement which also required them to assist in suing Israel Discount Bank.
The ATO is waiting on an appeal dealing with another Binetter company, to which it could also appoint a liquidator, and Mr Sheahan remains trustee of the bankrupt estate of Emil Binetter.
ATO wins $137m from Binetters’ Israeli banks after 16-year pursuit
The more the evidence is scrutinised, the “more compelling” is the case against Ian Macdonald, Eddie Obeid and Moses Obeid, submitted the Crown prosecutor in the trio’s long-running criminal trial in the NSW Supreme Court.
It has been a year since the commencement of the case against former mining ministers Ian Macdonald, 71, and Eddie Obeid, 77, along with Obeid’s son Moses, 51. They have pleaded not guilty.
In her closing submissions, prosecutor Sophie Callan, SC, said there was an “overwhelming circumstantial case” that should satisfy Justice Elizabeth Fullerton beyond reasonable doubt that the three men were involved in a conspiracy.
Macdonald committed eight acts of misconduct in public office through his actions in establishing and granting an exploration licence over the Obeids’ family property near Mount Penny in the Bylong Valley. The conspiracy delivered a massive financial windfall to the Obeids, Ms Callan said.
‘Compelling’ case against Obeids and Macdonald, Crown submits