Fisher cleared of four charges

Former Satellite boss Greg Fisher was cleared last week of four charges relating to a 1999 investment in tourism company Sydney Skytours Ltd.

Fisher was charged with using $250,000 of Satellite funds to buy shares in Sydney Skytours. The prosecution unsuccessfully alleged Fisher had not told the Satellite board about the investment and had acted in his own financial interests.

It was the third set of charges Fisher has faced in the past year relating to the collapse of the Satellite Group in 2000. In May he was acquitted of charges he had behaved illegally when he allegedly swapped a Satellite-owned apartment for a discount on a luxury boat.

In December he was convicted of misusing his position as a Satellite director when he gave fashion designer Alex Perry more than $220,000 of Satellite’s money to host an Australian Fashion Week show. Although Fisher argued it was a Satellite investment, brochures from the show read brought to you by Greg Fisher, with no mention of the company.

The verdicts from the first two cases were suppressed until the third set of charges were heard.

Fisher is due to be sentenced on the Alex Perry charges this week. He will also face seven charges of supplying drugs and nine charges of possession in November.

Billed as the world’s first pink listed company, Satellite, which focused on property developments and gay media ownership, launched on the Australian Stock Exchange in September 1999 and went into administration in November 2000. It controlled a national suite of gay publications including Sydney Star Observer rival Capital Q and the now-defunct Outrage Magazine.

Fisher told reporters outside court last week he was thrilled with the verdict.