"It is, of course, easy to imagine cases where justice would require that penalties be reduced below what otherwise might be in recognition of the circumstance that a multiplicity of offenders is accidental and quite unrelated to the merits of the case."
29 The role of Mr Holloway, and his relationship to Holloway & Co, are matters which, in my view, justice requires that I have regard to in fixing monetary penalties for the contraventions.
30 I therefore propose to impose significant monetary penalties upon Holloway & Co for its role in the contraventions, and to impose significantly lesser monetary penalties upon Mr Holloway himself. In determining the penalties, in each instance, I have particular regard to the need to fix penalties of sufficient magnitude to deter each of the respondents from any further conduct contravening the Act, and to signify to the community at large the serious consequences which may flow from contraventions of s 85 of the Act so as to deter others who are trustees of, or advisers to, regulated superannuation funds from engaging in such conduct.
31 There are a number of other matters which, the parties submitted, were necessary to be addressed in determining the appropriate penalties.
32 APRA submitted that the conduct of the respondents in relation to its investigation of the contraventions, the fact that it put APRA to full proof during the hearing, and that Mr Holloway gave evidence which in a number of respects was not accepted, are also factors which militate towards a heavier penalty than would otherwise be the case. I do not accept that submission. It is certainly correct that the facilitation of an investigation, or of a hearing, by the making of admissions will lead to a penalty which may be significantly less than would otherwise be the case. That is because the community has been saved the expenditure of resources of time, effort and cost by such cooperation. It is included in the guide as to matters relevant to penalty under the Trade Practices Act set out by French J in CSR at 52,152-52,153 and approved and adopted in a number of other cases, including recently by Goldberg J in Safeway at 44 where his Honour lists a number of those cases. However, I do not accept the obverse proposition, namely that the conduct of the respondents in the course of an investigation or at the hearing involving the failure to make admissions will lead to an increased penalty. Nor do I accept that the views I formed about Mr Holloway's credibility should lead to higher monetary penalties than would otherwise be the case. Those propositions do not logically flow from the reduction in penalty which cooperation or admissions attract (see also Burchett J in TNT at 40,170). Furthermore, the Act contains provisions obliging persons to cooperate in certain ways with investigations being conducted by APRA under the Act. If there has been a breach of any such obligations, the appropriate remedy is to be found in proceedings in respect of any such contravention. Moreover, I am not satisfied that the respondents engaged in any improper conduct in relation to the investigation or at the hearing. In my view, the respondents did not unduly prolong the hearing by testing witnesses needlessly or without purpose; the cross-examination was confined in all cases to discrete issues and was not prolonged. The respondents did not challenge APRA's analysis of documentary materials, or of its calculations made to determine in-house asset ratios at the end of each relevant financial year for the funds in question. They pointed out early in the case the grounds of their defence, and adhered to those grounds throughout. I have given the respondents credit for that degree of refinement of the issues at the hearing, and the acknowledgments they made about APRA's calculations and the material underlying those calculations, in the assessment of penalty.
33 However, the fact remains that the contraventions took place over a considerable period of time. They were, as I have found, deliberate and a number of them involved substantial sums of money. In several instances, the contraventions involved investments by the same regulated superannuation fund over a period of two successive financial years, and three years in the case of the Herreen SBF and Feeney SBF investments.
34 I have also had regard to the fact that the respondents, in committing the contraventions, were endeavouring to secure benefits for the clients of Holloway & Co. The advice given was generally that funds from an investment by a regulated superannuation fund should be made available to an employer-sponsor only upon commercial terms. Also, there is nothing to suggest that in fact the investments which constituted in-house assets have not maintained their value so as to continue to be available to provide for the future of the members of the particular funds, although that is but a minor consideration, especially as the contraventions are relatively recent. In addition, I have had regard to the fact that neither of the respondents is said to have previously engaged in any conduct in contravention of the Act, or it predecessor.
35 In respect of most of the contraventions Mr Holloway was directly involved as the person who orchestrated the transaction. I have found that the investments by Pishas SBF of $30,000 for units in Angelou Trust on 21 June 1996 and of $3,000 on 23 July 1996, and of $30,000 for units in Angelou Trust on 25 June 1997, were effected under the direction of Mr Dalgleish following the establishment of Pishas SBF and Angelou Trust on 1 June 1996. Those investments were, however, made pursuant to the plan Mr Holloway formulated when the establishment of Pishas SBF and Angelou Trust was being discussed. I have not found that Mr Dalgleish caused those investments to be made on the specific instructions of Mr Holloway given towards the end of each financial year, but probably because he understood that that is what Mr Holloway intended to occur when those entities were established. That intention was the basis for Mr Holloway's involvement in those contraventions. That circumstance means that Mr Holloway's involvement in those two contraventions is slightly more remote than in most other cases. I have had regard to that aspect in determining penalty.
36 I do not consider that the timing of the Feeney SBF and Herreen SBF investments of $51,000 and $56,000 respectively on 13 February 1995 is of any particular significance in the assessment of penalty. The investments were made at that time as a consequence of financial restructuring, and as I found, to be tax effective. Nor do I consider that the timing of the investment of Hyde Park SBF of $19,176 on 6 August 1996 should tend to reduce the appropriate monetary penalty. It was an investment made from funds available through the refund of provisional tax, and was specifically earmarked ultimately to reduce Hyde Park's fully drawn bank advance. I have found that Mr Dalgleish gave the instructions for that investment, but at the specific direction of Mr Holloway. The two investments by Driving Centre SBF were effected at the instruction of Mr Dalgleish, but again I have found that Mr Dalgleish acted at the specific direction of Mr Holloway. I do not think that that circumstance warrants any reduction in the monetary penalty applicable to Mr Holloway on the basis that he was not directly involved in those investments.
37 I have also taken into account the fact that the investment by Kino SBF of $45,000 on 22 June 1995 led to $18,006 only being on lent to Kino, and the balance was probably repayment of a loan by Kino to Onik. I found that the investment itself was an in-house asset. However, the fact that $18,006 only was "exposed" to the vagaries of Kino's future prospects puts the significance of the amount involved in that contravention in a slightly different perspective. The investment by Kino SBF of $55,000 in Onik as 20 June 1996 also led to Onik lending $44,000 only to Kino, but I was unable to make any finding as to the reason for the difference. The difference is not sufficient to make any real difference to my assessment of the appropriate penalties.
38 The Holloway & Co transaction is the only one which involved directly the respondents' financial interests. Holloway SBF was the regulated superannuation fund of which Mr Holloway was both a director and a beneficiary. Holloway & Co benefited directly from the superannuation contribution being a deductible expense, and Holloway SBF gained the benefit of concessional taxation treatment by its receipt even though, through Katon, the contribution was returned by way of a loan to Holloway & Co. In my judgment, the Holloway & Co transaction involves a more serious contravention than the other contraventions by that direct and substantial financial involvement. The nature of this transaction, in my view, also warrants a proportionately larger monetary penalty upon Mr Holloway than in respect of the other contraventions.
39 Having regard to all those matters, in my judgment it is appropriate to impose the following monetary penalties upon Holloway & Co and upon Mr Holloway:
(a) in respect of the contravention by the investments by Feeney SBF and by Herreen SBF on 13 February 1995,
(i) upon Holloway & Co $20,000
(ii) upon Mr Holloway $ 2,500
(b) in respect of the contraventions by the investments by All Sweat SBF on 30 June 1995, by Unley Glass SBF on 29 June 1995, and by Kino SBF on 22 June 1995,
(i) upon Holloway & Co $25,000
(ii) upon Mr Holloway $ 3,000
(c) in respect of the contraventions by the investments by Dalgleish SBF on 28 June 1996, by Pishas SBF on 30 June and 23 July 1996, by Feeney SBF and by Herreen SBF on 28 June 1996, by Hyde Park SBF on 28 June 1996, by Driving Centre SBF on 30 June 1996 and by Kino SBF on 20 June 1996,
(i) upon Holloway & Co $80,000
(ii) upon Mr Holloway $ 9,500
(d) in respect of the contravention by the investment by Holloway & Co on 28 June 1996,
(i) upon Holloway & Co $40,000
(ii) upon Mr Holloway $12,000
(e) in respect of the contravention by the investment by Hyde Park SBF on 6 August 1976,
(i) upon Holloway & Co $ 5,000
(ii) upon Mr Holloway $ 1,000
(f) in respect of the contravention by the investment by Driving Centre SBF on 21 April 1997,
(i) upon Holloway & Co $ 2,000
(ii) upon Mr Holloway $ 500
(g) in respect of the contraventions by the investment by Pishas SBF on 25 June 1997 and by Feeney SBF and by Herreen SBF on 27 June 1997,
(i) upon Holloway & Co $50,000
(ii) upon Mr Holloway $ 6,500.
The total of the monetary penalties imposed upon Holloway & Co is therefore $222,000 and upon Mr Holloway is $35,000. I have considered whether that aggregate is appropriate for the conduct constituting the contraventions in all. In doing so, I have reviewed those totals in accordance with the observations of the High Court in Mill v R (1988) 166 CLR 59 per Wilson, Deane, Dawson, Toohey and Gaudron JJ at 63 quoting in turn from Thomas, Principles of Sentencing, 2ed (1979) at 56-57 as follows: