News item about Boulos Tarbs/ UBI etc - Thu 20 Jan 2005 02:24:AM
Ethnic TV King on fraud charges<br /><br />From the Australian (retyped via Apsatv.com)<br /><br />Back to “Kick Arse” Mike Boulos is unfazed by police allegations<br /><br />Mike Boulos, the controversial founder of Australia’s first ethnic pay-TV service, was charged with 10 counts of tax fraud by Australian Federal Police when he returned to Australia last month.<br /><br />It is just one of a number of hurdles as he seeks to reestablish his place in the industry. But the brash businessman expresses little concern about the fraud charges, saying he is “back to kick arse” and revealed plans for his own $100 million-plus lawsuit.<br /><br />Mr Boulos, whose pay TV business Television and Radio Broadcast Services (TARBS) was placed in receivership by creditor Panamsat last July, was arrested and charged at a Sydney Airport on December 20.<br /><br />Mr Boulos faces 10 charges of defrauding the commonwealth under section 29d of the Crime Act and appeared in Sydney’s Central Local Court on the day of his arrest. The matter has been adjourned until March 1.<br /><br />Mr Boulos, who returned to Australia voluntarily, yesterday described the charges as “ridiculous” and said they might be politically motivated. Asked how politics was involved, however, he said he had no answer.<br /><br />Federal police raided the TARBS office in the inner Sydney suburb of Pyrmont in 2000 and Mr Boulos said the charges must relate to the raid. “The matter relates to something that apparently happened in 1992 that I’m supposed to be aware of...but I’m certainly not too concerned by it.” he said<br /><br />Speculation had surrounded Mr Boulos’s lengthy overseas stay, but he said the TARBS collapse kept him out of Australia.<br /><br /> “I was coming back in July and the only reason I delayed my return was what happened (the TARBS closure) and I had to regain back most of the programming that TARBS had.” he said<br /><br />Mr Boulos said his wife Regina has since started a new ethnic pay TV service called United Broadcasting International (UBI) from TARBS former office.<br /><br />TARBS was placed in the hands of receivers Price-WaterhouseCoopers on July 8. By July 19 Mr’s Boulos had UBI registered with the Australian Securities and Investment Commision, and then secured space on Optus’s B3 satellite.<br /><br />According to documents lodged with ASIC on August 3. UBI has also secured up to $60 million in debt funding from Gerry Lenfest—a major US investor in Australia’s first failed pay-Tv company. Australis Media.<br /><br />TARBS is still in the hands of its receivers. The Australian understands that the entitlements of the gorup’s 220 employees, who lost their jobs have been funded by tax payers through the Government Employee Entitlement Redundancy Scheme.<br /><br />Mr Boulos, who chairs UBI and acts as its “special advisor”, said it was already broadcasting 44 ethnic pay-TV channels but hoped to increase that to 64 by March.<br /><br />“In a short time we have 10000 subscribers and have the majority of our Turkish subscribers (from TARBS) and are now getting the majority of our Arabic ones.” he said<br /><br />“I’m back to kick some arse.” But Mr Boulos is also facing other problems.<br /><br />One of the channels being broadcast by UBI, the Serbian channel PINK TV, has accused UBI of illegally pirating its service, and on December 31st issued a “cease and desist” order which has been seen by the Australian.<br /><br />That may lead to other court action. The letter states that Pink will “take the appropriate measures to provide against the illegal broadcast of the Pink service to the extent of court action to defend its infringed rights”<br /><br />Mr Boulos also denies that claim, saying UBI has “paid consideration for that programming as recently as October/ November”.<br /><br />“We will never broadcast a channel we don’t have right to,” he said, “I have been in this market too long to do that.”<br /><br />When not defending claims the AFP or Pink. Mr Boulos is planning his own legal action against, TARBS‘s major creditor, Panamsat, and receivers PWC.<br /><br />Mr Boulos claims TARBS was 7000 subscribers away from breaking even when the plug was pulled. He claims he invested $200 million in the company.<br /><br />He said a legal brief was three to four weeks away from completion, which would then be lodged in the NSW Supreme Court, “and we may also commence some action in the U.S”.<br /><br />“We are the biggest losers in this and the biggest winners over the past years was Panamsat that received over $100 million from us in satellite fees and they pretended to be our partners.” he claimed. “And then they put a receiver in place.”<br /><br />TARBS receiver PWC is believed to have sold some of its assets such as the subscriber base, but unsecured creditors are not expected to see any return and large sums are also still believed to be owed to Panamsat.