Music industry guru Glenn Wheatley could hardly believe his ears upon hearing the judge’s call.
He had been jailed.
Not for a few days, not for a month, but for a whopping 15 months.
This was a man who had never put a foot wrong in his life.
Glenn Wheatley (2nd left) arrives at the County Court of Victoria alongside Robert Richter, QC in 2007. Richter would go on to defend Cardinal George Pell
Wheatley famously mortgaged his own home in the 1980s to finance the production of John Farnham’s (pictured) Whispering Jack
Wheatley (far right) had been the bass player in 70s rock band Masters Apprentices
It was July 6, 2007 when Wheatley’s worst nightmare came to fruition.
He had walked into the County Court of Victoria still clinging to hope that he might leave through the same doors he had entered.
Situated across the road from Melbourne’s magistrates’ court, the ‘County’ is known for dishing out large sentences to fraudsters while whacking rapists with the equivalent of wet lettuce leaves.
It is a court that adheres to ancient English customs which once saw thieves transported to Australia as convicts for stealing loaves of bread.
Philip Egglishaw, 68, the man known as the ‘Bowler hat Englishman,’ is the alleged mastermind behind Australia’s biggest tax evasion scheme
Wheatley had been told by prosecutors that they would not push the judge for a jail sentence.
Aged 59, Wheatley had been lured into the web of an international scammer that had been helping big shots like him avoid paying their taxes.
Jersey-born Britain-based Philip Egglishaw – now known as the ‘Bowler Hat Englishman’ – had cooked the books for some of Australia’s most rich and famous.
Among them was legendary entertainer Paul Hogan, who allegedly had $US34 million stolen from Egglishaw.
Hogan was investigated by the Australian Tax Office over eight years and settled the dispute in May 2012.
What Wheatley didn’t know at the time was that Australian authorities had been onto Egglishaw for the past two years in what was called Project Wickenby.
Project Wickenby would result in 46 convictions, 76 charges, and $2.3 billion in tax liabilities being recouped.
In the scheme of things, Wheatley’s role in the scam cost the taxpayer chump change.
Wheatley had omitted income totalling $256,410 from his tax returns in 1994 and 1995.
The music promoter, who famously mortgaged his house to finance the production of John Farnham’s Whispering Jack album, had fallen on hard times through a failed business venture.
He had bought Melbourne nightclub ‘The Ivy’, which had gone belly up at the expense of about $10million.
Glenn Wheatley and wife Gaynor at the Moet & Chandon Fashion Ball in 2003
Wheatley (pictured, right, in 2002) had been the bass player for Masters Apprentices
Glenn Wheatley leaves the funeral of Darryl Cotton at the Comedy Theatre in Melbourne in 2012
Unsecured creditors were owed in the order of $1.247million and he had a previous tax liability amounting to about $100,000.
Part of Wheatley’s arrangement with creditors saw him agree to pay 30 per cent of his income above $150,000 per annum.
When one of Wheatley’s solicitors suggested he could ship money off-shore to avoid paying taxes in Australia, the vulnerable businessman took the bait.
Hot of the heels of Farnham’s successful ‘Chain Reaction’ tour and ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’, Wheatley was fed-up with handing over his hard earned to the tax man.
During a meeting at Melbourne’s Sheraton Hotel, Egglishaw assured Wheatley he could hide the cash he earned from Farnham’s ‘Talk of the Town’ tour.
He later used the dodgy Swiss account to hide $194,000 in cash owed to the taxman from the 2003 Kostya Tsyzu and Jesse James Leija fight at Colonial Stadium.
Wheatley had made it clear he would cooperate with authorities.
In December 2005, he was advised by the assistant director of the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions that it would urge upon the court for him be given a fully suspended sentence.
A month later they reneged on the deal and instead pledged to push for a reduction in his sentence should he rat on those higher along the chain.
John Farnham (pictured on February 2) rushed to Wheatley’s home upon learning of his death
Farnham and Wheatley had been more like brothers than mates
Farnham (pictured) made a huge comeback when Wheatley helped him produce Whispering Jack in 1986
Wheatley continued to cooperate despite the betrayal and repaid $416,012 to the Australian Tax Office – his debt plus change.
The court had heard he had used a large chunk of the hidden cash to pay his previous tax bills.
By the time Wheatley was hauled off to jail he had endured two years of public shaming.
Wheatley had come from good stock.
His father had been a Rat of Tobruk during World War II and he had come from a loving and hard working family.
He was a self-taught musician which saw him play bass guitar in the 1960s with the band Masters Apprentices, which had huge hits such as ‘It’s Because I Love You’ and ‘Turn Up Your Radio’.
Wheatley had found even greater success behind the scenes.
In 1973 he moved to Los Angeles and arranged various concerts, notably one featuring Michael Jackson.
Upon Wheatley’s return to Australia in 1975, he managed various artists and in 1980 was a founding member of the radio station 3MMM.
Years later he served as chairman for the Sydney Swans AFL team.
Those that knew Wheatley could not comprehend how he had found himself in this position.
So respected was he that General Peter Cosgrove – Australia’s former Chief of Defence – provided a gushing reference to the court in the hope he might be spared jail.
Wheatley had organised some of Australia’s finest performers to entertain troops on duty in East Timor in 1999.
‘He is a very generous and patriotic Australian, whose unstinting and whole hearted work to support our men and women in uniform was evidenced,’ Mr Cosgrove stated.
Farnham (left) came out of retirement after Wheatley was released from jail
Wheatley and his son Tim. Wheatley had been described as a ‘responsible family man’.
‘He is a fine Australian, deserving of sympathy and mercy. He has our ongoing affection.’
A who’s who of Australia’s elite backed Wheatley’s character, including his best mate Farnham, who declared Wheatley was more a brother to him than just a friend.
They described him as having ‘a fairly broad brush approach to most things and doesn’t spend enough time on the detail or on his own personal affairs’.
County Court of Victoria Judge Tim Wood was not persuaded.
Wheatley would be heralded as Project Wickenby’s ‘first scalp’.
‘Offences against the revenue strike at the community’s heart,’ he told Wheatley.
The judge scoffed at Wheatley’s efforts to help investigators.
‘All tax payers are victims of your offending. Your offending diminishes the ability of government to provide for community needs, also it requires and imposes unfair burdens on honest citizens who pay their taxes,’ he said.
On May 19, 2008 Wheatley was released into home detention from jail after spending 10 months behind bars.
Farnham had been the first person to call him at 5am that morning while on the road home from Beechworth Prison in Victoria’s north-east.
Over the next decade Farnham would come out of retirement and help Wheatley get back on his feet.
Wheatley died from complications while being treated for Covid-19 on February 1.
Glenn Wheatley once managed Delta Goodrem (pictured at an awards show in 2002)
Glen Wheatley and John Farnham made a fortune together, Wheatley blew it on some bad investments and wound up in jail
Glenn Wheatley (pictured) in the 1990s before his dramatic fall from grace
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