False loans fool government
The owner of Activ8Me, Sandro Di Donato, signed off on incorrect or false company loan documents in order to satisfy the federal government that his company was solvent and should retain its license to install satellite broadband kits in regional areas with government grants, the Supreme Court of Victoria heard yesterday.Di Donato signed the undated $16 million loan documents in the "second half of 2007", he told the court. The loan from TBS Pty Ltd, a part of the Bill Express group, was not repayable until mid 2011.Di Donato was asked why the loan document was created."It was a requirement of the auditors of APN (Di Donato's private company that trades as Activ8Me) and the government required some evidence of the loan position," Di Donato told the court."Was a copy sent to the government?" asked Peter Bick, counsel for PPB, the liquidators of Bill Express. APN was one of many private companies associated with Bill Express."I believe so," answered Di Donato."This is a false loan, isn't it Mr Di Donato?""It is recorded incorrectly," said Di Donato."Had any part of that sum actually been lent to APN?""No.""There was no $16 million loan, was there Mr Di Donato? You prepared a false loan agreement to record a loan of $16 million for the auditors and the government, didn't you?""No, I believed at the time it was true and correct," replied Di Donato. "Subsequently I realized it wasn't factually correct."Di Donato was also quizzed about $1.4 million in ten large round number payments that flowed out of the Bill Express group to APN and APN creditors in April 2008."Bill Express topped up the APN account whenever it got low, isn't that right Mr Di Donato?""No, we were being drip-fed, they didn't abide by our agreement - that was the biggest problem we had," said Di Donato.He has maintained throughout his testimony that APN/Activ8Me was not part of the Bill Express group of companies and was not funded by Bill Express.