Books close for first gay public company

SYDNEY, Australia -- The chapter has ended in the saga of Satellite Group, the gay publishing and real estate company that went public and then collapsed under about $10 million in liabilities.

This week, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission concluded legal action against two former executives of the failed company.

It followed a decision in the New South Wales Supreme Court that managing director Gregory Fisher and former executive manager Jonathon Broster had used Satellite funds for their personal ventures without authority from directors or shareholders.

ASIC has banned both men from being a director of a private company for five years and from a public company for eight years.

In addition, Broster has agreed to pay $150,000 in fines. Fisher is bankrupt and so no penalty or compensation has been paid.

Once dubbed the world's first "pink float," Satellite was forced into voluntary bankruptcy in November 2000.

Shares in the group, which traded as high as 50 cents in 2000, slumped to 15 cents and were halted from trading in July last year.