Recently
deceased Australian
media tycoon who fled Australia to the Spanish island of
Majorca after the collapse of his media empire,
Quintex.
The Australian Government has spent millions of dollars in an unsuccessful bid to get Skase to return to Australia to face around sixty charges including misappropriation of shareholders' funds and tax evasion, as well as debts of over $AU177 million owed to Quintex creditors.
It could be said that Skase is the individual most hated by Australians. Certainly there was no shortage of publicity surrounding the attempts by former Justice Minister Senator Amanda Vanstone to return him to the country to face the charges.
Skase managed to successfuly stay in Spain claiming that he was too ill to travel to Australia - a claim that was treated with a healthy dose of skepticism by the Australian public. It transpired that he was indeed unwell - photographs were published showing him to be gaunt and clearly dying. This managed to ellicit precisely no sympathy from the populace. He died finally of complications arising from lung cancer and asbestosis.
So why was Skase the man Australians loved to hate?
Quite simply the sheer audacity of the man - a great number of Australians were affected by the collapse of his empire - and his continued refusal to be accountable for the loss. He was portrayed as "living it up" in the resort of Majorca and giving a big "fuck you" to the Australian Government.
Bizarrely the family appears to blame the Government of Australia for causing his death. His daughter-in law was quoted as saying:
"They've taken his life, we'll never have him back and, let me tell you, this is one huge, humungous loss for this family."
Quite frankly, I feel no sympathy for the man or his family. At the end of the day, he is a criminal who fled form justice and blames the justice system for making his life difficult.
So fuck you, Christopher. Goodbye and good riddance
Karma's a bitch...