Former company director Giovanni Demasi has been sentenced to a three-year good behaviour bond and a $10,000 recognisance after pleading guilty on 7 August 2023 to one charge of making a false or misleading statement to ASIC.  

Mr Demasi was a director of Sapphire Freighters Pty Ltd (Sapphire), which owned and operated a long-haul trucking business based in Melbourne, Victoria.  

On 6 July 2021, Mr Demasi lodged an application with ASIC to voluntarily deregister Sapphire. In that application, he claimed that Sapphire was not party to any current legal proceedings. 

The Fair Work Ombudsman subsequently asked ASIC to defer Sapphire’s deregistration, noting that it had current legal proceedings on foot against Mr Demasi over his failure as Sapphire’s director to comply with a compliance notice relating to outstanding employee entitlements.   

The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions prosecuted the matter following a referral from ASIC.  

Background   

Mr Demasi was charged with one count of breaching section 1308(1) of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth), an offence which carries a maximum penalty of 5 years imprisonment.