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media release (23-224MR)

Former Victorian company director sentenced to good behaviour bond

Published

Former company director Giovanni Demasi has been sentenced to a three-year good behaviour bond and a $10,000 recognisance after pleading guilty on 7 August 2023 to one charge of making a false or misleading statement to ASIC.  

Mr Demasi was a director of Sapphire Freighters Pty Ltd (Sapphire), which owned and operated a long-haul trucking business based in Melbourne, Victoria.  

On 6 July 2021, Mr Demasi lodged an application with ½ñÈÕÈÈÃÅʼþto voluntarily deregister Sapphire. In that application, he claimed that Sapphire was not party to any current legal proceedings. 

The Fair Work Ombudsman subsequently asked ½ñÈÕÈÈÃÅʼþto defer Sapphire’s deregistration, noting that it had current legal proceedings on foot against Mr Demasi over his failure as Sapphire’s director to comply with a compliance notice relating to outstanding employee entitlements.   

The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions prosecuted the matter following a referral from ASIC.  

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Mr Demasi was charged with one count of breaching section 1308(1) of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth), an offence which carries a maximum penalty of 5 years imprisonment.Â