The former chief executive of failed stockbroking company Opes Prime, Lirim Emini, has been committed to stand trial in the Victorian Supreme Court on 26 charges arising from an ASIC investigation.
Emini pleaded not guilty to all 26 charges and did not contest his committal in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court. He was subsequently ordered to appear in the Supreme Court on 21 March this year.
The charges brought against Emini come as a result of ASIC allegations that he made multiple transfers of securities between Opes Prime Stockbroking and Leveraged Capital, a separate company in which Emini held a directorship. The securities transferred had a value of over $100 million and allegedly took place between July 2006 and February 2008.
ASIC has laid 22 charges against Emini accusing him of being intentionally dishonest and failing to exercise his duties in good faith and in the best interests of Opes Prime and Leveraged capital.
Emini has also been charged with four separate offences of breaching his duties as a director of the companies involved. Specifically the regulator has alleged that around 20 March 2008, just prior to the collapse of Opes Prime, the directors signed documentation with the ANZ Bank securing funding for Opes Prime Stockbroking and its parent company Opes Prime Group and pledged the companies’ assets as security for the financial obligations of Leveraged Capital.
Emini was released on bail but was required to surrender his passport, agree to not leave Australia or attend any international point of departure, not contact any co-accused or witnesses, and agree to reside at his official residential address.
It was the first committal day also for fellow Opes Prime directors Anthony Blumberg and Julian Smith in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court, having both been charged with four counts of breaching their directors’ duties in relation to the ANZ Bank loan.
Blumberg did not enter a plea and was granted an adjournment on his committal until 11 March 2011.
Smith’s committal was also adjourned until 7 March 2011 after pleading guilty.
The Commonwealth Director of Prosecutions is prosecuting the cases.
