Karl Suleman, founder and former chief executive officer of the Froggy group of companies, has fronted up to the Downing Centre Local Court in Sydney to face fraud charges brought against him by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).

The short-lived Suleman business empire, which included Internet service provision and mobile telephony companies, at one stage spanned over nine companies and won the business man perks including a pair of small aircraft, multi-million dollar yachts, luxury cars and even a cruise with former US president Bill Clinton.

Suleman now faces four charges relating to the alleged use of a false bank statement to finance the purchase of a Ferrari in December 2000 and the alleged falsification of a further three statements to obtain funds to purchase an AU$3.3 million yacht and another Ferrari in October 2001.

Representing a flight risk, Suleman was bailed on the condition that he not apply for a new passport, and that he submit his current passport to ASIC should it be released from the NSW Supreme Court where it has been held since proceedings against him began in November 2001.

Mr Suleman is also required to notify ASIC of his address within seven days of ceasing to be legally represented.

ZDNet Australia  began investigating the Froggy ISP in September 2001, after it was discovered Suleman had purchased two aircraft in the company's name in a AU$4 million deal financed by GE Capital.

By November 2001 the Froggy group of companies went into voluntary administration, and ASIC chairman David Knott obtained the New South Wales Supreme Court's consent to freeze Suleman and his wife Vivian's assets. Subsequent ASIC investigations revealed the entrepreneur's business dealings were funded through an unregistered pyramid-style investment scheme which fed on the savings of Sydney's Assyrian community. Born in Bagdad, Suleman used the comes from the Assyrian-speaking, predominantly Christian ethnic minority, which has been hard hit by his corporate failures.

On 7 December 2001 KSE was placed in to liquidation at the recommendation of administrators Paul Weston and Neil Cussen of Horwath Accountants, and the hunt was on for more than AU$60 million in missing funds Suleman had managed to secure from hundreds of small-scale investors.

As the KSE business assets, including the yachts and luxury cars, went under the hammer, Froggy ISP was snapped up by John Paterson and Tim Berry in February 2002, who successfully resuscitated the Liverpool-based company.

July 2002 saw the NSW Supreme Court order Suleman to pay AU$17.4 million for breaches of director duties relating to the operation of KSE, and by the end of that month he had declared personal bankruptcy.

ASIC spokesperson Angela Friend told ZDNet Australia   the institution was unsure how much longer the case was set to drag on.

Suleman is set to reappear before the Downing Centre Local Court on 22 April 2003.

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