AACo did not question board about leak claims after insider plea

Liam WalshReporter

Feb 5, 2024 – 2.07pm

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Key Points

AACo says it has not asked board members about claims of information leaking.
Joe Lewis, who owns 52% of AACo, has pleaded guilty to US insider trading claims.
The ASX has questioned AACo’s old stockmarket announcements.

AACo says it has not gone back to ask board members if they leaked information to British billionaire Joe Lewis, even after he pleaded guilty to insider trading charges related to the Australian beef giant.

Lewis owns almost 52 per cent of Brisbane-based AACo, via his investment vehicle Tavistock. An indictment relating to his securities fraud charges, to which he pleaded guilty last month, alleged he had received information in 2019 about a material loss impending for AACo from one of the then Tavistock representatives on AACo’s board.

Liam Walsh writes on investigations and companies with The Australian Financial Review. He has won multiple media awards, worked in Japan and is now based in Brisbane.