Former B Digital director absolved

An insider trading case against a former director of junior telco B Digital has been finally dropped, after three years of wrangling in the Western Australia courts.

George Galavis, who at that time was a director of Perth-based B Digital, was found guilty 8 March 2002 in Western Australia’s Joondalup Court of Petty Sessions on one charge of providing false information to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).

Magistrate Peter Malone in the Perth Court of Petty Sessions dismissed the charge after a three day re-examination of the evidence ending 10 February.

ASIC said in 2002 that it had been investigating Galavis’ trading in Stanley Mining Services shares in 1997 just before the mining firm was taken over, using an Eyres Reed account called Bohemia.

“Gelavis denied knowledge of the account under oath,” ASIC said at the time. “The court found that Mr Gelavis knew of the account at the time he provided evidence to ASIC and that his answer was untrue.”

Gelavis had appealed twice against the court’s decision and the case was finally reexamined in the Western Australia Supreme Court a year ago, which quashed his conviction and ordered a new hearing.

“The Full Court concluded there had been an error of law,” ASIC said.

The case had to be fully reheard by a new magistrate this year because the original presiding magistrate had retired, ASIC said.