John Gay Pursued For Proceeds Of Crime

THIS STORY IS BEING COVERED-UP BY THE LAUNCESTON EXAMINER
The Examiner spent decades promoting convicted criminal John Gay.
Deceased Gunns board member David McQuestin was once Chairman of the company that owned the Examiner, ENT. Current Liberal Party of Tasmania president Sam McQuestin is David McQuestin's son. The Examiner is run by Liberal Party apparatchik Barry Prismall. They don't like seeing old mates face justice at the Examiner.
Southern Cross Television Tasmania is also going soft on John Gay and refusing to admit their old hero is a convicted criminal. Today they failed to mention Gay was being taken back to court by ASIC while covering this story. Gunns board of directors page shows Chris Newman as a director of Gunns and Worldwide Entertainment Limited. Newman is also an independent director of Austereo Group Ltd, owner of Southern Cross Media.

By Andrew Darby
Former Gunns chairman and convicted inside trader John Gay is to be taken back to court in a proceeds of crime action that regulators say will be a nationally defining case.
Australian Securities and Investment Commission chairman Greg Medcraft said the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions would bring the action against Mr Gay.
"I think the whole country was" disappointed with the original penalty, Mr Medcraft told Greens Senator Peter Whish-Wilson in Senate Estimates on Wednesday.
The Tasmanian timber company boss was fined $50,000 and banned from directing a company after admitting selling 3.4 million Gunns shares in late 2009 while he had price sensitive information in the form of a monthly management report.
In Mr Gay's trial, the crown alleged his sales of Gunns shares netted $798,000, but Justice David Porter said he was unable to determine the amount.


The Australian Shareholders Association said the modest fine and automatic five year ban from managing a company would not have much impact on Mr Gay, and missed a golden opportunity to  send a wider deterrence message.
The first attempt by ASIC to mount a proceeds of crime action was rebuffed by the Australian Federal Police, the Estimates committee heard.
Mr Medcraft said the DPP would bring the matter to court on 12 June, and an ASIC spokeswoman later confirmed it would be heard in the Tasmanian Supreme Court.
Senator Whish-Wilson was told that, since the Gay case, a review by ASIC found civil penalties for insider trading were "woefully inadequate" in comparison to those imposed other regulators around the world, where triple penalties were the norm.
"So if the court case was now, what would he be facing?"  Senator Whish-Wilson asked.
"So the criminal penalty is 10 years, and the civil penalty is the greater of $750,000 or three times the benefit," said ASIC commissioner Cathie Armour.
In April, despite ASIC opposition, Mr Gay won Supreme Court approval to direct a company controlling a $2.9 million turnover timber veneer business, and its owner, a family trustee company.
Justice Robert Pearce said there was no appreciable risk he would re-offend, and as well as being fined and convicted, he had suffered the condemnation, shame and loss of reputation which accompanied a prosecution of this nature.
Mr Gay's lawyer, Richard Mereine, told Fairfax Media:  "We will be defending the action, but we have no further comment to make ".