SUSANNE Hunter, the wife of former Cruise and Maritime Voyages Australia CEO Grant Hunter, is facing court after being charged with misappropriating more than $2.4 million from the cruise company.
Susanne Hunter was a Director of CMV Australia, with Seven News last night revealing the alleged swindle as the pair visited NSW Police detectives.
The report confirmed multiple fraud and money laundering offences are being investigated, involving allegations of hundreds of money transfers from the company to Susanne Hunter’s bank account over a period of three to four years.
CMV issued a statement confirming that an “internal investigation into accounting irregularities uncovered some concerns regarding the handling of company funds while the business was under the management of Mr Grant Hunter, CEO and his wife, Mrs Susanne Hunter, Passenger Service & Office Manager between 2013 and 2017.
“The matter was referred to police and is now the subject of a formal criminal investigation, on which Cruise & Maritime Voyages is unable to comment further.”
Grant and Susanne Hunter have not been involved with CMV since Sep 2017, when Dean Brazier was appointed as MD.
Prior to running CMV Australia, Grant Hunter was Managing Director of Classic International Cruises (CIC) in Australia, which was placed into voluntary administration in 2012 (TD 01 Nov 2012) due to an inability to secure a replacement vessel after the Athena cruise ship it used was impounded over non-payment of bills by its European owners.
The CIC collapse saw more than 5,000 passengers disrupted, along with millions of dollars in payouts from the then Travel Compensation Fund.
In the current criminal investigation no charges have been laid against Grant Hunter, and there is no suggestion he has done anything wrong.
When Brazier took up his new role 18 months ago, CMV said Grant and Susanne Hunter were leaving to “pursue a new career opportunity overseas”.
The case against Susanne Hunter is expected to be heard later this month.
Source: traveldaily