Farrow Convicted, Ordered To Pay $120,000
The Age
Friday November 10, 1995
The former Pyramid Building Society chief executive, Mr Bill Farrow, was fined $50,000 yesterday for exceeding unsecured loan limits.
The magistrate, Mr David McLennan, who also awarded $70, 000 in legal costs against Mr Farrow, told the Geelong Magistrates Court: ``What happened here amounted to a risk to considerable portions of the funds of the societies and that risk was totally unjustifiable."
He said there was basis for the prosecution claim that increased lending favorably affected Mr Farrow's potential income. The charges claimed building societies within the Farrow group lent more than 6 per cent of their assets in unsecured loans. The offences, said to involve up to $100 million, occurred in the 10 months from June 1989.
Mr Farrow said there was no connection between the charges and the $1 billion worth of losses suffered by the group.
He said, based on the magistrate's calculations, he had exceeded loan limits but ``I calculated it one way, my staff calculated it another . . . the prosecution another and now the magistrate, yet another".
Mr Farrow said he might appeal.
Detective Sergeant John Pinney of the major fraud group, who has been involved in the inquiry into the group for five years, said: ``Mr Farrow has certainly raised questions about the inquiry as such and I think today has shown that we are on the right path."
© 1995 The Age
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