Revealed: Firepower's criminal links
LONDON: An offshore entity allegedly linked to the underworld figure John Kizon was given millions of free shares in the failed fuel technology company Firepower and has ended up with a large stake in its latest London-based reincarnation, Green Power Corporation.
Santi (L) Investment Corporation, a company registered in Labuan, an obscure tax haven off the coast of Malaysia, was given 40 million shares in Green Power shortly after Mr Kizon paid a visit to London.
When questioned last month by the Herald, Mr Kizon denied any involvement with Firepower or with Green Power. He said he wouldn't associate with anyone who "robs mums and dads" - a reference to the Firepower chief, Tim Johnston - describing such actions as "disgusting".
But documents obtained in London indicate Mr Kizon attended a Chelsea v Manchester United soccer game in September last year at the expense of Green Power. The documents also show he was at a dinner at the Carlton Tower restaurant in London and at later meetings in Indonesia organised by Green Power.
Green Power's former chief executive officer, Chris Hudson, who entertained Mr Kizon during his London trip and in Indonesia, confirmed Mr Kizon's link to Santi. "Kizon told me he was Santi," he said.
Documents obtained by the Herald show Santi (L) Investment Corporation owned 5 million shares in Firepower that were transferred to it free of charge by Mr Johnston in August 2007.
Mr Kizon is a convicted heroin dealer and a close friend of "Carlton Crew" identity Mick Gatto, and he was closely associated with the fall from grace of the AFL star Ben Cousins.
In 1998, Mr Kizon flew from Perth to act as a pallbearer for the underworld funeral of Mr Gatto's friend, standover merchant Alphonse Gangitano, the first victim of the long-running Melbourne gang war.
The new twist in the already colourful Firepower tale follows the recent unexpected return to Australia of Mr Johnston, the chief architect of Firepower.
Mr Johnston faces further public examination in the Federal Court in Perth later this week over how he raised almost $100 million from investors after claiming to have invented a magic pill that cut emissions and improved fuel efficiency.
Regulators believe that much of the money ended up in Labuan, the same obscure tax haven that is home to Santi.
By the time Firepower collapsed spectacularly in August 2008, Mr Johnston had fled to London, where he set up Green Power Corporation in partnership with the controversial Romanian-Australian businessman Frank Timis.
Green Power used the same products and logo as Firepower and promised - as did Firepower - to list in London on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM).
Mr Timis, who also has heroin convictions in Australia, has strong links to Firepower. Both he and Mr Johnston, in separate media interviews, promised that the mum-and-dad shareholders who bought into Firepower would be compensated beyond their dreams when Green Power listed on the AIM.
It has yet to do so and its chances may have taken a blow last month when one of Mr Timis's former companies, Regal Petroleum, was hit with a record £600,000 ($1 million) fine and public censure by British regulatory authorities for making misleading statements about the potential of two Greek oil wells.
The public censure did not accuse Mr Timis, who is aiming to list an unrelated company on the Australian stock market, of being personally responsible for the company's misstatements. But he did resign as chief executive of Regal over what is regarded as one of the darkest chapters in British corporate history.
http://www.smh.com.au/business/revea...1206-kcup.html
