In taking the witness stand during the eighth day of the class action trial regarding Centro's near-collapse in 2007, former Centro chief executive Andrew Scott denied allegations that he bullied staff at the company ahead of the release of Centro's flawed 2007 financial accounts, according to a report by The Australian.
The scandal was revealed when Centro revealed it was struggling to refinance billions in debts that were incorrectly classified as non-current.
While on the witness stand, a lawyer for PricewaterhouseCoopers asked Mr Scott if he ever discouraged members of the company's executive team from raising issues at their bimonthly meetings. “I suspect some of my actions and language would do so (discourage people), but that wasn't the intention,” he said, according to The Australian.
When asked if he ever bullied anyone, Mr Scott reportedly said, “If things needed to be done quickly, I suspect some people could misinterpret it that way, but I don't believe that I did.”
Former Centro chief financial officer Romano Nenna has said that he felt sickened when he realised the company's accounts contained a $3.1 billion error.
Hundreds of Centro shareholders have joined two class actions against the company and PricewaterhouseCoopers, worth a combined $600 million.
CRF Price at posting:
$1.87 Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
