02.28 am, Thursday May 24 2012

Police to investigate SA Jockey Club

14:19 AEDT Wed Mar 18 2009
By Steve Larkin
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A criminal investigation has been launched by police into alleged corruption that has torn apart the South Australian Jockey Club (SAJC).

SA Police said on Wednesday one matter in a secret report into vote-rigging and corruption at the SAJC will be investigated further.

Police have also advised the government refer other matters in the report, which recommended SAJC chief Steve Ploubidis be sacked, to consumer affairs officials to investigate possible offences.

SA Racing Minister Michael Wright passed the report, which was leaked to an Adelaide newspaper, to police about 10 days ago.

"Police have assessed the report ... there is one matter that requires further criminal investigation," a SA Police spokeswoman said on Wednesday.

"This will be undertaken by SAPOL's commercial and electronic crime branch.

"SAPOL has recommended to the minister that other matters raised in the report should be referred to the Office of Consumer and Business Affairs (OCBA) to investigate."

To ensure prompt resolution of both investigations, police will establish a joint taskforce with OCBA, the spokeswoman said.

"OCBA will have the responsibility for managing the investigation that relates to any potential offending pursuant to the Associations Incorporation Act," she said.

The Sunday Mail newspaper said the report, by legal firm Lipman Karis, placed Mr Ploubidis at the heart of allegations of membership stacking, dubious accounting practices, threats and gratuities.

The independent report was commissioned by Thoroughbred Racing SA, the governing body of racing in the state, to investigate claims of corruption and vote-rigging at the club in October last year, when four of the nine SAJC board positions opened up.

Long-time SAJC members became suspicious when numbers of new members appeared, reportedly sympathetic to Mr Ploubidis and his agenda to sell suburban Adelaide racecourses and focus racing at the club's Morphettville headquarters and track.

An aggrieved director, Bill Spear, petitioned the SA Supreme Court to issue an injunction on the board elections but a compromise was reached: Thoroughbred Racing SA would appoint an independent investigator.

Mr Ploubidis, who has been stood down pending the investigation, has denied any wrongdoing.

 

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