Australian Newsagency Blog

The Age is reporting that a criminal investigation into Bill Express executives is under way thanks to evidence gathered in the recent liquidators hearings.
While there will be no economic joy for newsagents from this, those who feel ripped off by the whole Bill Express saga will derive some comfort that those in control of the […]

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Newton Chan, fomerly of Macquarie Equities, has been jailed after pleading guilty to eight counts of market manipulation of the share price of Bill Express.  Mark hawthorne writing at The Sydney Morning Herald has more on this story including this:
He will serve just four months after co-operating with ASIC’s investigation, including handing over a memory […]

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I am surprised to see the ANF involvemed in a project which aims to use Bill Express screens in newsagencies for advertising, especially since there is no disclosure, at this stage, of the commercial benefit for the ANF.  Given the ANF ivolvement in promoting Bill Express to newsagents from 2003 and the millions its collapse […]

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Banking Day has a couple of excellent reports from yesterday and last week on the latest from the investigation into the collapse of the company being held in the Supreme Court of Victoria.  Each day of the hearing has shown that newsagents were just a small part of a major financial scam.
Bill Express funded the […]

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Mark Hawthorne continues his excellent reporting of the liquidators examination of the Bill Express mess in The Age today.  It is amazing how people who appeared to be at the centre of the company, signing documents, being the public face etc now say that they were being told what to do by others, one of […]

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I received a copy the annual report from the liquidator of On Q (a Bill Express related party) this week.  It details a situation as messy as that being investigated by the Bill Express liquidator.  The report documents some suspected voidable transactions, what look like questionable loans, a question about possible insolvent trading and a […]

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The Herald Sun ran a story on Bill Express yesterday on page 87.  This adds to the excellent coverage in The Age over over recent months.  Yesterday’s story focused on the evidence of Julian Little and the treatment of a loan provided ot him by the company and paid out by the company.
My understanding is […]

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Fpr those wanting an update on the Bill Express investigation in the Supreme Court, click here for the report on yesterday’s proceedings.  It’s all about Julian Little, the Bill Express Director who drove the relationship between the ANF, newsagents and Bill Express.

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The Age continues excellent coverage of the investigation into Bill Express today thanks to Mark Hawthorne’s work.  In addition to the Supreme Court investigation yesterday which shed light on cash leakage from the business in early 2008, Newton Chan pleaded guilty in the Magistrates Court to manipulating the share price.
What a mess.
Newsagents and others connected […]

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Mark Hawthorne’s Twitter live feed from the Supreme Court this morning is fascinating.  Check out his latest tweet:
supreme court just heard #billexpress paid TBS $600k a month, and $7m in last month. Court told this was ’stripping of money’

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Mark Hawthorne from The Age will be tweeting live from the Supreme Court today where public examination is underway of key players in the collapse of Bill Express. Follow Mark on Twitter at CollinsSpencer.  It is unusual to have a live news feed, via Twitter, from the Supreme Court.
Newsagents should follow Mark’s tweets and stay […]

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Mark Hawthorne reports in The Age today that former directors of Bill Express delivered documents to the Federal Court in Melbourne yesterday as required by a court order obtained by the liquidator.  Eleven days of public examination are scheduled to start in March.
It is a pity that newsagents were not being given the same opportunity […]

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Some newsagents have recently received letters from a firm called Professional Collection Services (PCS) demanding money in relation to Bill Express.  The Bill Express liquidator has engaged PCS to collect Bill Express debts relating to telecommunication services incurred prior to Bill Express ceasing operations. Unfortunately the letters of demand to not specify what the debt […]

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ASIC has laid charges in relation to alleged market manipulation relating to Bill Express.
Mr Newton Chan of Balwyn, Victoria, has been charged with eight counts of market manipulation following an investigation by ASIC.
The charges relate to Mr Chan’s alleged manipulation of the share price of Bill Express Ltd (BXP) (now in administration) while he […]

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Mum and son tag-team Trish and Rob Hunt, the team responsible for selling Bill Express into many newsagencies, has surfaced door knocking newsagencies peddling a marketing group. Turning up in newsagencies unannounced, they are robustly pitching good stock deals, good lease deals and other benefits.
If you are looking to join a marketing group, shop […]

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If any newsagent has received any payment following and as a result of the recent ACCC case in the Federal Court I’d be interested in knowing.  I will pass the information on to Hank Spier who has been working on behalf of newsagents on the Bill Express matter since before the company collapsed.

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The Remedies range has been pitched to us by a magazine merchandising company with the line that the products are endorsed by the ANF and VANA.  The endorsement is worthless in my eyes.  These associations should become good associations before they start to branch out into endorsing headache tablets.
The ANF Board cut secret a deal […]

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The Age today has a wrap up by Mark Hawthorne of last week’s Bill Express announcement.  The Age led on the Bill Express last year thanks to Mark and his team.  It is good to see them continue their coverage.

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A newsagent colleague from Queensland sent me this photo showing how they are using their Bill Express display now to promote lotteries.  Very smart.  Professional too!  It bothers me when I see Bill Express light boxes and other collateral still on display in newsagencies.  It is this lack of attention which holds us back as […]

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Justice Gordon today handed down a decision in the federal Court declaring that Bill Express contravened the Trade Practices Act by engaging in exclusive dealing and misleading and deceptive conduct. Action was brought by the ACCC on this matter.  Click here for a copy of the ACCC press release on the matter.
The decision relives […]

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I have received the following update from parties familiar with the court case relating to Bill Express:
The ACCC case was heard in the Federal Court in Melbourne last week,The only real respondent left standing is Bank of New York. The other respondents, Bill Express, TBI and Mobius are all in liquidation.
The Judge reserved her decision. […]

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Telstra has advised customers that if they wish to pay their bill at Australia Post or at a Telstra shop they will apply a $2.20 “payment administration fee”.  I wonder if they would have done this had the Bill Express bill payment network not collapsed?
I wouldn’t mind $2.20 to process a bill.
Newsagents price their services […]

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The small display supporting prepaid Visa at the edge of our lottery counter is generating good sales of prepaid Visa cards and attracting good top-up business.  For a bit of passive marketing it is doing very well.  The growth over the last few months has been excellent. We are finding former BOPO customers happy with […]

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The matter of ACCC v Bill Express & Ors has been set down for a trial before Justice Finkelstein commencing on 10 August 2009. A pre-trial conference has been listed for 11.30 a.m. on 22 July 2009.

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Australian Pure Fruits is pursuing a newsagent who took on a drinks fridge as part of their Bill Express arrangements.  I would be interested to hear from other newsagents being similarly pursued about the fridge.
Australian Pure Fruits is the company which originally floated Bill Express on the ASX.  They claim to have purchased the fridges […]

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