Christopher Skase - Fall From Grace

Fall From Grace

By 1989, things began to go wrong. Interest rates had risen, and an attempt to buy the MGM film studios fell through. Skase was forced to sell half of his resorts to Japanese investors. In the months that followed, it became clear that Skase and the Qintex group had overextended themselves.

According to a 1998 report by the ABC program, Four Corners, Skase had begun obtaining and moving money into foreign bank accounts in July 1989. Despite efforts lasting more than a decade, Max Donnelly, the creditors' trustee, was unable to trace much of the missing money.

At a meeting in October, Skase began to fall out with the Qintex board. He demanded that the board pay $13.5 million to a private company that he owned. The board refused to ratify the payment, but soon discovered that the payment had already been made. Skase then demanded the board give him a pay rise, and threatened to resign if he did not receive it. The board refused, with several members themselves threatening to resign.

One of the directors reported the incident to the Australian Securities Commission. The creditors moved in, and Qintex collapsed. Skase was forced to sell the Seven Network for a tiny portion of what he had paid for it. In the end, Skase was more than $700 million in debt. He began to parcel up his remaining wealth, including more than $900,000 worth of antiques and furniture.