Wheatley ditches appeal

JAILED music promoter and tax cheat Glenn Wheatley has abandoned an appeal against his 15-month sentence after being warned by a judge that his jail term was likely to be increased.

JAILED music promoter and tax cheat Glenn Wheatley has abandoned an appeal against his 15-month sentence after being warned by a judge that his jail term was likely to be increased.

Judge Alex Chernov said yesterday that the Victorian Court of Appeal might be "compelled" to increase Wheatley's sentence after examining white-collar fraud case law, immediately prompting complaints from Wheatley's barrister that the court had stifled debate on "important issues of public policy".

Wheatley, the first scalp of the massive tax-fraud investigation Operation Wickenby, had been set to argue that his sentence was unjustly excessive before the Court of Appeal indicated that, in its view, he might have got off lightly. Justice Chernov warned Wheatley's barrister, Robert Richter QC, yesterday that the court had the power to increase the sentence. "On this occasion, it may feel compelled to do so," Justice Chernov said.

Wheatley was given a maximum jail term of 2 1/2 years after admitting he evaded paying $318,000 in tax by hiding money in offshore trusts.

He pleaded guilty in July to one charge of defrauding the commonwealth by failing to disclose income of $256,410 on his 1994-95 tax return, one charge of failing in his duties to creditors under the Bankruptcy Act, and one charge of dishonestly obtaining gain from the Taxation Commissioner by avoiding declaring income earned on a 1993 Kostya Tszyu boxing match.

The cumulative total of the maximum sentences for the three charges to which Wheatley pleaded guilty was 16 years.

When originally seeking leave to appeal against the sentence of Victorian County Court judge Tim Wood, Wheatley's lawyers argued that the judge had failed togive sufficient weight to Wheatley's early indication that he would plead guilty and his comprehensive co-operation with authorities.

Wheatley has agreed to give evidence if required in any future prosecutions mounted as a result of Operation Wickenby, which involves the tax office, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, and the Australian Crime Commission, among other bodies.

Justice Chernov's warning yesterday came as a surprise to Wheatley's barristers, who had been encouraged by the judge's comments in a previous hearing that Justice Wood had taken an unusual step by ordering Wheatley's sentence on each charge be served cumulatively, rather than concurrently.

Wheatley is due to be released from jail in October next year.