THE business partners of Robert Agius, the Vanuatu-based accountant accused of running a money laundering and tax evasion scheme for 400 wealthy Australians, are mounting a last-ditch legal bid to stop information seized in police raids being sent to Australia.
The Australian Federal Police, in conjunction with Vanuatu police, have raided the Port Vila offices of PKF Vanuatu, as well as the homes of some of the accountancy firm's partners.
Robert Agius, the senior partner of PKF Vanuatu, was arrested in Perth on Sunday following a Project Wickenby investigation into an alleged tax-evasion scheme run by the Vanuatu-based firm.
The AFP alleges that Agius helped more than 400 wealthy Australians avoid paying an estimated $100 million of tax over seven years, netting millions of dollars for his firm in the process.
In an exclusive interview with BusinessDay, Daniel Agius, the 27-year-old son of Robert Agius and also an employee of PKF Vanuatu, confirmed that an injunction had been granted by the Vanuatu Supreme Court "preventing any information taken in the police raids being sent or transmitted outside of Vanuatu's borders".
The injunction has been taken out by the partners of PKF Vanuatu, who are represented by Port Vila law firm Ridgway Blake. The brief is being handled by solicitor Garry Blake.
"It's a temporary injunction, and we will be back in court in the morning in Port Vila seeking to make that injunction permanent," Daniel Agius said.
"The injunction has been taken out by the partners of PKF on the grounds that the search warrants issued were illegal, that the searches were conducted by Australian police outside of their jurisdiction, and therefore the information can't be sent out of the country."
Daniel Agius said that he and his two brothers, Stephen and Elliot, were "desperate" to hear from their father following his arrest on money-laundering and fraud charges.
"I have been in contact with the Australian Federal Police office here in Port Vila," Daniel told BusinessDay.
"They said Dad would be entitled to two telephone calls - one to a lawyer and one to a member of his family. So far none of us have heard from him, and that includes my brother Elliot in Sydney. Right now our best chance of getting any news about how he is going will be when he appears in court in Sydney."
Robert Agius is scheduled to appear before a Sydney court this morning.
Daniel said it was "business as usual" at PKF Vanuatu, despite the arrest of his father and the ongoing police search. "They are at the office right now," he told BusinessDay. "I wouldn't call it a raid, they came in with the search warrant and the Australian police are removing files and computers.
"Other than the inconvenience I can't see this affecting work at the moment, we have plenty on. As for the charges, I can't really comment until one of us has heard from Dad. All I know is what I have read."
Asked why the company's website, which detailed the services PKF Vanuatu offered to overseas customers, was no longer operational, Daniel denied that it had been taken offline. "This is Vanuatu, mate. It's probably had too many hits," he joked.
Daniel also said that the family was concerned for the wellbeing of their father. Robert Agius, a divorcee, has three sons - Stephen and Daniel, who reside in Vanuatu, and Elliot, who lives in Sydney.
"We've all been in regular contact. The best chance we have of hearing something is through Elliot in Sydney." Continued…
