Here is the article from the Australian yesterday:
New Tel saga gets fishier Geoff Elliott, Michael Sainsbury and Glenda Korporaal NOVEMBER 27, 2002
RICHARD Steggall, the man championing a deal to save embattled Perth-based telco New Tel - was once a director of two failed companies, including a business called Bondi Fish & Chips Pty Ltd.
Mr Steggall is either 25 or 26 years old – two birthdates are listed in company filings – and lives with his girlfriend Ingrid Lim in Donvale, an outer suburban of Melbourne. Ms Lim is a director of the mysterious Broadband & Wireless Ltd, the company that has ridden to the rescue of New Tel. Ms Lim celebrated her 22nd birthday yesterday.
The revelations add to the controversy surrounding New Tel over the past fortnight, where BWL has offered to ride to the rescue of New Tel in a deal to buy out New Tel's major creditors, Telstra and Optus.
They are owed up to $20 million between them.
Despite New Tel announcing last week that BWL had struck a deal with its creditors, sources at both Optus and Telstra said while discussions had been held, no deals had been formally signed. Mr Steggall was also a director of New Communications Australia Pty Ltd, which documents at the Australian Securities and Investments Commission indicate is in the process of being struck off the business register.
Sources said Mr Steggall had been familiar with New Tel's operations, previously working as a mobile phone dealer for New Tel through reseller Delta Phones. Mr Steggall has told The Australian his role at BWL is that of an employee and that the company is Hong Kong based.
However, a search of the Hong Kong offices of the Companies Registry, which registers limited companies, did not show any company registered under the name of Broadband and Wireless Ltd.
A search of the Business Registration Office, which registers business names, also showed no sign of a company using that name.
The company's Hong Kong address listed on its website is not an office but a trading address for international trading companies.
BWL's other directors include Robert Petty and Michael Neistat. Mr Petty is also a director of Melbourne-based Roo Media, in which Mr Steggall is listed as a company secretary.
