Dressing down has its appeal

There was an absence of high fashion in Sydney’s Supreme Court yesterday as Oliver Curtis appealed his conviction.

Illustration: Rod Clement

There was a notable absence of high fashion in Sydney’s Supreme Court yesterday as a former pupil of broadcaster Alan Jones appealed investment banker Oliver Curtis’s one-year insider trading conviction.

Bret Walker SC — who was taught by Jones at the prestigious Parramatta private school King’s and now charges about $20,000, sometimes more, for a day’s work — argued that the sentence for Oli, a Riverview old boy, could not be supported by the evidence.

Oliver Curtis in more fashionable times.

The 31-year-old Curtis was projected on either side of the austere, beige-walled courtroom by a video link from Cooma Correctional Centre.

There was not a cuffed, bespoke suit pant in sight. Not a loafer — let alone a tussled one — of the sort Oli sported during his appearances earlier in the year at the atmospheric St James Road court.

Instead, inmate Oli wore an olive green long sleeve top, with shorts and sneakers that were mostly hidden behind the desk he sat at in the little Cooma jail courtroom, and on which he shuffled papers.

Considering his fallen state, it was perhaps for the best his high-profile publicist wife Roxy Jacenko kept away from the court and the assembled business, metro and celebrity press scrum.

Family values

Resources millionaire Nick Curtis, 59, and his wife Angela Curtis have supported their insider trader son Oliver throughout his more than five-year battle to clear his name.

Nick and Angela Curtis, the parents of Oliver Curtis. Picture: AAP Image/Dean Lewins.

And yesterday the couple, who brought up their family in Mosman just three doors down from the family of Oli’s co-conspirator John Hartman, were in court to hear their son’s appeal.

The Curtises, who now live in Elizabeth Bay, both wore black suits and worried faces, as they watched the expensive legal team they had assembled to try, one last time, to set their son free.

Regardless of legal success, Curtis senior, a former Lynas Corp chief, has plenty for Oli to go on with once he eventually walks out of the Cooma jail.

Curtis has his hands on a brand new medical records IT start-up called E-Nome. Meanwhile, his BBI group, which he controls with his wife, is developing an integrated iron ore port and rail infrastructure project in the Pilbara in conjunction with the privately owned NZ giant Todd Corp.

With the legal bills still mounting, there’s plenty of reason to keep at it.

Moving on

Curtis’s now Perth-based childhood friend and fellow insider trader John Hartman and his family are all moving on from the sorry saga, while Curtis continues his fight.

John and Alice Hartman.

Hartman, who rolled over to ASIC, gave evidence against his mate and has served his time for his crime, is awaiting the birth of his second child with his wife Alice Hartman, a brother for their son George.

Hartman is doing well in his fresh career working for billionaire Andrew Forrest’s Minderoo. Last month Hartman and his family enjoyed a pre-new arrival holiday at stunning Coral Bay, 12 hours north of Perth and a million miles away from Cooma.

And in August, Hartman’s brother Edward Hartman started a new phase as a New York-based senior vice-president of mergers and acquisitions at News Corp (owner of this paper).

Until April, he was the NYC operative for Will Vicars’s funds manager Caledonia.

Before that he was at UBS, until his career was temporarily shaken up by the Curtis circus. Back on track now.

All in the family

Oliver Curtis’s fashion publicist wife Roxy Jacenko says she has told the couple’s two insta-star children, their five-year-old daughter and two-year-old son, that their Dad is in “China”.

Roxy Jacenko with her mother Doreen Davis-Jacenko. Picture: Christian Gilles.

Fortunately, it seems there’s no chance at this stage of Mum going to “China” too, with Sydney’s Rose Bay Police reporting that a legal matter concerning Roxy, her Mum Doreen Davis-Jacenko, Davis’s ex-husband Nicholas Jacenko and his failed fashion designer fiancee Lisa Ho has now been “suspended”.

Roxy’s dad Nick and Ho allege the mother and daughter attacked them in the street during an incident in Woollahra in mid-May, just as Curtis’s trial was getting under way.

Rose Bay Police say they have interviewed all parties on the matter, but due to conflicting statements on how the incident unfolded, along with a lack of any witnesses and CCTV footage, they have now suspended their investigations.

Unless further information comes to hand the case will go cold — which seems like the best result for all involved.

The fashion publicist is becoming well known at the eastern suburbs cop shop.

Earlier this year she made a complaint to police concerning explicit doctored images of her daughter, a matter that also went nowhere.

Missing millions

Finally, after all these years, it seems only ACCC chair Rod Sims stands in the way of the marriage of David Attenborough’s wagering giant Tabcorp and Robbie Cooke’s lotteries heavy Tatts Group.

David Attenborough in the Tabcorp Marquee at a previous Melbourne Cup.

Fitting for a deal that has been kicked around since before the global financial crisis, the $11.3 billion gaming merger will be a fee bonanza for its investment banking advisers.

Kelvin Barry led the UBS team that advised Tabcorp. It’s all happening for Barry right now — he’s the same guy in charge of splitting James Packer’s Crown empire.

Joe Fayyad led the Goldman Sachs team working for Tatts Group.

But spare a thought for Ben Smith, head of corporate advisory at Investec.

Late last year, when the Tabcorp-Tatts dance began again — only to stop suddenly because of some imbalanced share-price movements — Goldies was sharing that Tatts mandate with Investec Australia.

Investec’s Smith goes way back with Tatts boss Cooke, who previously ran online travel agent Wotif. Smith even sat on the Wotif board ahead of its takeover by US-based rival Expedia.

Despite all his work for Tatts, this week Smith found out Investec’s services were not required on the whopping transaction.

The lost fee — millions and millions of dollars of it — would have gone a long way in the slim boutique. Not that anyone at Investec needs to be reminded of that.

He’s had his Day

The faithful are hoping it may not be over yet for resigned Family First senator Bob Day amid the liquidation of his Home Australia house builder.

Resigned Family First senator Bob Day. Picture: AAP Image/Lukas Coch.

Supporters have launched crowd-funding for the failed businessman and pollie, seeking $100,000 to “Keep Bob Day in the Senate!”

Yesterday pledges were rolling in, with 86 charitable folk promising a collective $15,000 towards the cause. But it may all be a bit late for Day, with Rikki Lambert already in pole position (and with Bob’s blessing) to take over the plum upper house slot.

Jack’s back

He might be in his 90s, but Australia’s corporate elite still haven’t found a way to stop chronic agitator Jack Tilburn from extending meetings well beyond the time when most board members would prefer to be tucking into tea and bickies.

Shareholder activist Jack Tilburn.

Origin Energy had a novel approach at Tilburn’s 575th AGM yesterday, with chairman Gordon Cairns calling intermission an hour in, with the apparent intent of having a face-to-face chat to the meeting veteran in an attempt to limit his floor time.

Alas, the efforts of Cairns — who is also the chair of Woolworths — seem to have had the opposite effect.

As soon as the intermission ended, Mr Tilburn was back at the mic, declaring he would speak against Cairns’ re-election, as well as opining on every other resolution.

“Could I ask you a favour Jack?” Cairns attempted to interject, but to no avail.

Tilburn did his best to upset Cairns’ Buddhist-trained calm, hitting the mic stand five times in total and not letting anyone find out what favour the chair was after.

Might be best just to let him run his own race next year.