One of Australia's most infamous white-collar fugitives, Abraham Goldberg, whose USD 1.5 bln business collapse ranks among the largest in Australian history, has been found in Warsaw in a joint investigation with Interfax Central Europe and Australia's "The Bulletin."
Goldberg, a fugitive of the Australian government since 1991, was found to have invested widely in Warsaw real estate through the Metropol and Oxford groups, with former or current holdings including some of the Polish capital's most prominent buildings, such as Blue Tower on Plac Bankowy (Banker's Square) and Oxford Tower, Warsaw's first skyscraper, not to mention a number of other buildings and Warsaw logistics parks with high profile tenants like Citibank - a creditor of the bankrupt Goldberg in Australia.
The collapse of Goldberg's empire, the Linter Group--known world-wide for the brands Speedo and King Gee--collapsed under the weight of approximately USD 1.3 bln in debt, much of it borrowed to buy small companies, as well as to privatize Linter in the late 1980s, which was followed by a failed attempt to take over the Industrial Equity group, and Woolworths. Goldberg later disappeared amid charges that millions of dollars were transferred by Goldberg's executives to different accounts and shelters all over the world.
In 1991 Australia issued 10 fraud and dishonesty arrest warrants for Goldberg, yet despite almost 15 years of searching by the government, as well as by international accounting firm, KPMG, the elusive entrepreneur has never faced trial.
Goldberg's ability to avoid capture has raised questions regarding the actions of KPMG, which, according to The Bulletin and the Sydney Morning Herald, had approximately USD 400 mln in seized monies with which to track Goldberg down.
Goldberg, now in his mid-70s, was discovered by investigative journalists Eric Ellis and Interfax Warsaw Bureau Chief Preston Smith, writing for Australia's The Bulletin in cooperation with Bertold Kittel, a leading investigative journalist for the Polish daily Rzeczpospolita.
Editor-in-chief of The Bulletin, Garry Linnell, who published a full expose of Goldberg's discovery Tuesday, said Goldberg's discovery cannot be underestimated.
"The scandal of Abraham Goldberg's business collapse ranks among the largest in Australian history," Linnell said. "His companies owned household clothing brands like Speedo and King Gee, and the USD 1.5 bln failure was huge by standards of the era."
Linnell pointed out that Goldberg's ability to evade justice should prompt a questioning of how the international legal system really works--adding that Goldberg had recently been issued a new passport by the Australian government.
"That he remains a fugitive with a new billion-dollar property empire points to a major lapse on the part of Australian authorities," Linnell said. "If Goldberg's claims are true that the Australian government recently reissued him with a new passport, serious questions need to be asked as to how a fugitive like Goldberg obtains official government sponsorship while still wanted on 17 outstanding warrants.
"Clearly, if the Australian government wants to look the other way, it's up to the new Polish government to deliver on its recent campaign promises and investigate this serious issue," he added.
In an interview with Ellis and Smith, Goldberg stated that he "did not give a damn" as to what people in Australia might think about the fact that he had become a successful real estate magnate in Warsaw. During the interview, part of which appeared in The Bulletin, Goldberg also said he was innocent of all wrongdoing, placing the blame squarely on the shoulders of then-personal assistant, Katy Boskovitz.
Boskovitz was sentenced to five years in prison for her role in transferring funds, which she told The Bulletin were carried out on Goldberg's instructions.
"I did as I was told," Boskovitz told The Bulletin in Tuesday's publication. "There were definitely things I didn't enjoy building I got not one cent out of this."
The Bulletin's Linnell put the story in context, saying that Goldberg's crash was one of the most important of a group of other tycoons who also saw their company's collapse controversially at about the same time.
The Bulletin's Ellis traveled to Poland in 1992 seeking Goldberg, tracking him to the Lodz, reportedly his home town, but he was told by Goldberg's lawyer only that "it is normal for business to go up and down," adding that Goldberg would "never return to Australia." Goldberg could not be contacted at that time, but he became ranked as one of a succession of crashed Australian multi-millionaires--like Bond in Britain and Switzerland, and Skase in Spain--who had sought refuge abroad.
"While Goldberg himself was not as prominent as Alan Bond or Christopher Skase, he lost more money and his personal bankruptcy of USD 793 mln was much greater than the other two combined," said The Bulletin's Linnell.
|