Ex the Business (
City Beat) Section of The Courier Mail today:
Courier Mail- CITY BEAT: Thursday, 21 October 2010
with James McCullough
Air boss grilling
FAILED Brisbane businessman David Charlton is finally set to front a court today to face questions about the $93 million collapse of his SkyAirWorld airline last year.
Charlton is expected to turn over documents and could take the stand during the public examination in Brisbane Magistrates Court overseen by company liquidator Peter Lucas.
About five other key figures will also be grilled during the hearings, which continue on November 5 and December 1. Lucas has said he will be probing allegations of insolvent trading, intercompany transactions, unfair preference payments, uncommercial deals and the roles of shadow directors.
About 150 workers lost their jobs when Brisbane-based SkyAirWorld fell over in April 2009, leaving more than 420 unsecured creditors. Charlton, an army reservist, also remains at the centre of a Defence Department investigation into allegations he may have improperly influenced an $US80 million tender to fly troops to the Middle East.
Remember what he said to City Beat in October 2006 – he was confident his airline would not go down the path of other players such as OzJet, Compass, etc, predicting “we will be flying in 15 years’ time”.