Money-laundering whistleblower Troy Stolz is in court this week against pokies lobby group ClubsNSW. Whistleblowers David McBride and Jeff Morris were there to support him. Callum Foote reports.
Troy Stolz has finally got his day in court this week. Along with YouTuber Jordan Shanks, the former compliance officer – who is dying of cancer – is subject to a private criminal prosecution by powerful clubs pokies peak body ClubsNSW.
Stolz is also suing ClubsNSW for defamation after he blew the whistle on the lack of compliance with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism finance laws.
The Federal Court heard on Monday that on November 2019, after Stolz left ClubsNSW, the organisation sent an email to all CEOs and directors of clubs with which it was associated.
The email labelled Stolz incompetent and Stolz’s lawyers say that this was a deliberate attempt to ruin any chance he had at future employment in his industry.
Taking the stand, Stolz said that upon reading the email “I just sunk in my chair, I felt sick to my stomach. I was devastated, I felt that they had destroyed my career”.
The action didn’t take Stolz by surprise though: “I’d seen it happen to other employees that left the organisation”.
“It made me feel angry, I even stayed on an extra seven weeks to help them,” he said.
Stolz also gave evidence that the email would be seen throughout the industry, with ClubsNSW lawyers being ordered to provide a list of its recipients.
The Court was told Stolz left the...
Although on appeal the court distinguished that there was new information in the claim, the court ultimately found the new information was not material, nor was it plead with particularity. The U....