ASIC loses case against One.Tel founder
- ASIC fails in action against One.Tel founder
- Judge hands down 3100 page judgement
- Court to now decide on costs
IT WAS the corporate collapse that left billionaire James Packer in tears, as fellow media heir Lachlan Murdoch looked on.
And today the long-running saga One.Tel saga ended another chapter after the corporate watchdog failed in its civil action against founder Jodee Rich and the telecommunication's company's finance director Mark Silbermann.
ASIC claimed the pair had misled the One.Tel board, which included Mr Packer and Mr Murdoch, over the financial state of the company.
Mr Packer had introduced his late father's company Publishing and Broadcasting, and News Corporation, to the One.Tel business, and together the media companies lost about $1 billion when the telco folded.
NSW Supreme Court judge Robert Austin today handed down his judgement in the long-running case launched by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
"I have reached the conclusion that ASIC has failed to prove any aspect of its pleaded case against either defendant," he said.