Stars In The Dark As Files Are Lost
Stars In The Dark As Files Are Lost
November 13, 2006: The Sydney Morning Herald has reported that crucial client files containing the sensitive financial details of Paul Hogan and John Cornell have been lost.
The Herald reports that accountant Philip Egglishaw, alleged to be managing up to $50 million in secret tax haven bank accounts, lost the tax haven structuring details and sensitive emails involving hundreds of Australian clients including Cornell and Hogan.
The now lost contents once ignited operation Wickenby, Australia’s biggest laundering and tax evasion investigation.
Egglishaw’s computer was seized and copied by the Australian Crime Commission in 2004. Once he received the computer back, the hard drive crashed, only for Egglishaw to later discover a technical glitch that ruined his backup copy. The Herald says this leaves Egglishaw and his clients little information on what the commission has against them.
The Australian reported earlier this year that both Hogan, famous through the Crocodile Dundee series and friend Cornell, who played a major role in writing and directing the series, are under investigation for allegedly holding $40 million in offshore companies and secret trusts and not declaring the funds to the Australian Taxation Office. The investigation is believed to be part of Operation Wickenby, a project involving approximately $300 million in unpaid taxes.
In an effort to have the commission share its copy of the computers contents, Egglishaw has taken the commission to Federal Court. The hearing is listed to take place on December 4.