Dishonest director crashes to earth
IT TOOK three years for authorities to hunt down Robert Bassili, but the effort was justified when a Sydney court sentenced him to three years and three months in jail.
IT TOOK three years for authorities to hunt down Robert Bassili, but the effort was justified when a Sydney court sentenced him to three years and three months in jail.Bassili, the high-flying former director of Radisson Maine Property Group and chief executive of RAN Holdings International, once claimed to head a global investment empire covering aviation, shipping and property interests, with offices in London, New York and Geneva.The 35-year-old from Cronulla also enjoyed rubbing shoulders with sporting stars and celebrities. He claimed to own a fleet of Ferraris, leased a private plane and put a deposit on a $6.8 million penthouse at Eureka Tower. The $680,000 deposit cheque bounced.Bassili even talked Wests Tigers rugby league club into a sponsorship deal with his Radisson Maine Financial Group.Many investors believed they were buying into Victorian property, but the empire never existed. Boxer Jeff Fenech lost $500,000. Rugby league players Ben Galea, Joel Caine and John Skandalis lost money. So did swimmer Jim Piper.In December 2004, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission wound up Radisson Maine and RAN Holdings, two companies Bassili co-owned with business partner Nick Popov.Liquidator Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu found that 30 Radisson Maine creditors were owed $3.7 million, but less than $40,000 was left in the kitty.Popov was arrested in Sydney, but Bassili fled to Ukraine. ASIC, with the help of Interpol, managed to nab him at Heathrow Airport trying to leave London in May last year.Bassili was extradited to Australia and, on May 14 this year, pleaded guilty to one count of dishonest conduct for taking $200,000 from investors, which he failed to invest.According to ASIC, Bassili advised two investors that one of his companies, Radisson Maine Technologies, would buy delisted Green Pacific Energy and return it to the boards. Bassili received $200,000 from the investors but did not buy Green Pacific Energy. Bassili pleaded guilty to two further counts of fraudulently omitting to account for $105,000 raised from investors who thought they were buying property at Sanctuary Lakes.As Bassili has been held in custody since his arrest in London, his sentence has been backdated. He will serve a further nine months and is due for release in May.Dinner and a showMUCH speculation has surrounded succession plans at National Australia Bank, with Cameron Clyne and Mark Joiner emerging as favourites to take over as global chief from John Stewart.Stewart is tipped to pack up and head for the Highlands shortly, leaving the NAB's woes behind. After a board meeting in Melbourne, NAB's directors - no executives invited - gathered at a restaurant last night for a last supper and to choose a successor. "The decision will be made over dinner," Full Disclosure was told. "Expect a puff of white smoke in the morning."Look out, then, for a NAB announcement today.
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