Page 4643 - Week 15 - Wednesday, 15 December 1993
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Halbear company records list its two shareholders as Salvatore (Sam) Francipane and Raymond De Rubeis. Documents connect the activities of Fouron Pty Ltd, a director of Halbear Pty Ltd, namely Sam Francipane, and the State Bank of New South Wales. These documents were prepared at the instructions of a company titled G.A. Listing and Maintenance Pty Ltd, Australian company No. 001 238 651, by Dr Judie Walton of the Document Examination Co., and were presented on 14 June this year. Dr Walton is accepted in court proceedings as an expert in relation to the authenticity of documents, and in particular whether documents have been forged or altered. After the examination of documents, Dr Walton concluded, without qualification, that on key G.A. Listing and Maintenance Pty Ltd documents purporting to contain the signatures of two directors of that company, namely, Sam Francipane and George Athanasakos, Athanasakos's signature was a forgery, while the signature of Francipane was genuine.
The relevant point here is that the Francipane signature purporting to witness the signature of Athanasakos was a forgery. One document registered on 16 November 1990 and signed by a State Bank of New South Wales officer bears the forged signature of George Athanasakos. This means that - - -
MADAM SPEAKER: Mr Stevenson, I know that this is highly unusual, but I need to interrupt you. I ask you a direct question. Are any of the issues you are raising directly before a court at the moment?
MR STEVENSON: No, not that I am aware of.
MADAM SPEAKER: Thank you, Mr Stevenson. I also remind you, because it was the other element of the point of order that Mr Connolly raised and I did not proceed with that part, that when we were talking about citizen's right of reply we talked about the need to be mindful of your responsibilities when exercising your freedom of speech.
MR STEVENSON: Yes; thank you, Madam Speaker.
MADAM SPEAKER: Please continue, Mr Stevenson.
MR STEVENSON: This means that the documents either were signed not in the presence of that officer, which in itself is an offence, or were signed in front of the bank officer, which suggests a conspiracy. These documents prepared by the Document Examination Co. thereby show that forgery, fraud and a criminal conspiracy have occurred. Individually the documents I have drawn from pose questions that must be answered, but when linked together they paint a picture of graft and corruption that certainly cannot and should not be tolerated.
At this point another dilemma is raised. These documents have been presented to the Australian Securities Commission, but they indicate that they are unable to act on them because of their charter. The National Crime Authority has said that they cannot act upon this information unless directed to do so. However, I have a document, an internal State Bank office memorandum, which shows that the NCA was to investigate Fouron Pty Ltd accounts. The Australian Federal Police have difficulty in acting on this matter because of jurisdictional restrictions.
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