Wickenby Project Not Meeting Expectations

PR Log (Press Release) – Jan 21, 2009 – With one of the principals of the Swiss firm, Strachans, at the centre of  the Wickenby Project , arrested and a second principal under threat of arrest, the Wickenby Project is wallowing in the water. A fierce fight over an extradition order has ensued, while the arrested principal awaits formal charges.

All this has come about because of a huge hole known as the “Wickenby gap”. While the project has raised $213 million, it appears that the books show only $81 million collected.  
A statement was issued by the Commissioner of Taxations on the 31st October, 2008.

“The success of Project Wickenby depends on the integrity of its investigations and the clear message it sends to those who seek to abuse Australia’s tax laws".

The net result, to date, from Project Wickenby is as follows:

249 completed tax audits
28 people charged on indictable offenses
23 criminal investigations
$79.06 million in tax collected, besides $70.7 million in improved compliance by people reviewed by Project Wickenby
$207.16 million in tax liabilities raised
$75.7 million worth of assets restrained (pending people being charged)

Paul Hogan was among the high profile arrests made in 2008.  These also included Rob Agius, arrested in April 2008. Rob was allegedly the head of a $100 million offshore money laundering scheme, in a plot to defraud the Australian government of taxes. Law enforcement authorities took action to close down a number of separate multi-million dollar money laundering schemes that were allegedly operating between Vanuatu and Australia.

Paul Hogan was cleared. Certain documents had been seized, but a court ordered them to be returned to Hogan’s tax advisers. The papers were not permitted to be used as evidence.  Among accusations from Hogan of ‘bullying tactics from the Australian authorities, Hogan walked free.

Rob Agius has been forced to put his life on hold and suffer under house arrest since April 2008, after being commanded to put up the largest bond ever forced on an individual in Australia, $4.4 million. In spite of the length of time since the arrest there are still no formal charges forthcoming from the government. It is believed that a truck load of seized documents, seized by Australian law enforcement agencies, have not been released by the Vanuatu government. Another court appearance is scheduled for January 2009.

Cross border investments in and out of Australia amount to $2.5 trillion annually, which is over double the Australia’s GDP. This figure is said to continue to grow by approximately $300 billion a year. Even though the world is reeling from financial chaos and the disclosure of private details of 70 American clients, by an ex employee of Swiss wealth manager UBS, the trade show no sign of slowing down.  

With the aim of entering the global drive to combat tax evasion through offshore schemes, the Australian Wickenby Project was set up in 2005.  This involved five separate agencies: the Australian Crime Commission, (ACC) the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and the Australian Securities and Investment Commission, (ASIC) and Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions, (CDPP). It is however, reported that the Wickenby project, is not giving the results that had been initially anticipated.

The ACC does not seem to be too interested in answering questions directly on the Wickenby Project.


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