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ACR's Cranswick declared bankrupt in Australia, no perm dom

ACR's Cranswick declared bankrupt in Australia, no perm dom
By: Ralph Mutema
Posted: Thursday, November 11, 2010 10:08 am

AFRICAN Consolidated Resources chief executive officer Mr Andrew Cranswick has been declared bankrupt in Australia for alleged tax evasion to the tune of A$1 million. Mr Cranswick is believed to be currently operating from Kent, United Kingdom where ACR is headquartered.

A source told the Sydney Herald that Cranswick, while in self-imposed exile, is currently a permanent resident of no country and keeps moving through Zambia, South Africa, Mozambique, Swaziland and Britain.

His company in Zimbabwe has been charged with unlawfully acquiring diamond claims at Chiadzwa by using subsidiary companies that were unregistered at the time

Cranswick says he cannot dare to come back to Australia because authorities there have made it clear they would block his exit to Africa and Europe - and hence his livelihood.

The Aussie Federal Court, in his absence, ruled last week that the mining executive became bankrupt, owing almost $1 million in taxes and interest, which has almost the same value in American dollars, on June 9 last year - the day he left Australia for the last time.

Cranswick had no chance to defend himself in Asutralia because notification of the tax case was sent to his estranged wife's address rather than to the home he has owned in Zimbabwe since 1990.

The Deputy Commissioner of Taxation in the Federal Court of Australia on October 27 issued the order against Mr Cranswick, which allows the state to attach any of his properties to recover the money.

"The sequestration order has risen pursuant to a creditor’s petition served on Mr Cranswick on Dece-mber 8, 2009 relating to unpaid taxes in Australia following an act of bankruptcy on June 9, 2009," read part of the notice.

In September, Cranswick’s ACR lost its diamond mining licence in Marange after it turned out that the London-registered company had fraudulently acquired the rights.

The business executive has accused Australia of violating his civil liberties by demanding tax from him when he is not a resident.

The Australian Taxation Office deemed Mr Cranswick as a resident for tax purposes, a decision the Federal Court upheld.

The ATO had argued in court that Mr Cranswick had declared on his passenger cards on 28 trips to Australia that he was a resident returning to the country and he intended to stay there for the next 12 months.

The Tax Office had also submitted that the business executive had bank accounts in Australia, received payments from overseas and admitted that he owned two properties there.

But Mr Cranswick protested, arguing that during the targeted years of 2005 to 2009, he resided and worked in Zimbabwe and could thus not be taxed in Australia.

He said his many visits to Australia were to see his daughters who live in Perth with his ex-wife.

They now stand to lose their house.

It is Mr Cranswick’s argument that he was denied a chance to defend himself as the notification was sent to his ex-wife’s address rather than to Harare.

''I suppose I might find some comfort in the curious truth that I am freer in Mugabe's Zimbabwe than I could ever have been in Australia,'' he wrote to the Australian paper.

Cranswick has been likened to Indiana Jones, which he finds embarrassing. Rather, he draws a comparison with the Crocodile Dundee star Paul Hogan, who temporarily lost his freedom to leave Australia amid a battle with the Tax Office.

Labels: AFRICAN CONSOLIDATED RESOURCES PLC, ANDREW CRANSWICK

posted by MrK @ 6:50 PM