Rodney Adler
Encyclopedia
Rodney Stephens Adler is an Australian businessman and former director of telecommunications company One.Tel
One.Tel
One.Tel was a group of Australian based telecommunications companies, including principally the publicly listed One.Tel Limited established in 1995 soon after deregulation of the Australian telecommunications industry, most of which are currently under external administration by court appointed...

 and insurance company HIH
HIH Insurance
HIH Insurance was Australia's second largest insurance company. It was placed into provisional liquidation on 15 March 2001. The demise of HIH is considered to be the largest corporate collapse in Australia's history, with liquidators estimating that HIH's losses totalled up to $5.3 billion...

, both of which collapsed in 2001. He was jailed in 2005 for his conduct related to the collapse of HIH.

Early life

Adler is the son of Hungarian
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...

 Jewish immigrant, Larry Adler, who founded the insurance company FAI in 1960. He was educated at Cranbrook School
Cranbrook School Sydney
Cranbrook School is an independent, Anglican, day and boarding school for boys, located in Bellevue Hill and Rose Bay, both eastern suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia....

, where One.Tel founder Jodee Rich
Jodee Rich
John David "Jodee" Rich is an Australian businessman, who founded Imagineering Ltd, a microcomputer software and hardware distributor, One.Tel Ltd, an Australian based telecommunications company, and PeopleBrowsr, a data mining, analytics and brand engagement service provider. at events around...

 was a classmate. He obtained degrees of Bachelor of Commerce from the University of New South Wales
University of New South Wales
The University of New South Wales , is a research-focused university based in Kensington, a suburb in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...

 and Master of Economics from Macquarie University
Macquarie University
Macquarie University is an Australian public teaching and research university located in Sydney, with its main campus situated in Macquarie Park. Founded in 1964 by the New South Wales Government, it was the third university to be established in the metropolitan area of Sydney...

 and is a qualified chartered accountant.

He is married to Lyndi and has four children: Jason, Romi, Natalie and Charlotte.

Business

Adler's criminal case related to a series of stock trades Mr Adler made in mid-2000 with HIH funds, less than a year before the insurance giant collapsed under a debt of more than $5 billion in what is still Australia's worst corporate disaster.

The trades involved the company Pacific Eagle Equity of which Rodney Adler was the sole director and beneficiary. In 2004, Adler bought close to $4 million worth of shares, in at least three separate transactions. The transactions had an inflationary effect on HIH's share price.

Adler was originally imprisoned in a low security facility but was subsequently moved to the higher security Bathurst Jail when it was discovered he was conducting prohibited business transactions from his cell.

Prison

On 13 October 2007, Adler was released from the St Heliers Correctional Centre
St Heliers Correctional Centre
St Heliers Correctional Centre is an Australian prison located in Muswellbrook, New South Wales, Australia. St Heliers is also responsible for the State's first mobile prison.-History:...

 in the Upper Hunter Valley on parole, after serving two and a half years of his sentence, spending time in nine different correctional facilities. Adler was reunited with his wife, Lyndi, and their four children at their mansion in the eastern Sydney suburb of Vaucluse. Adler described the prison system as "Darwinian, degrading, outdated, boring and pointless" in an article written for The Bulletin
The Bulletin
The Bulletin was an Australian weekly magazine that was published in Sydney from 1880 until January 2008. It was influential in Australian culture and politics from about 1890 until World War I, the period when it was identified with the "Bulletin school" of Australian literature. Its influence...

 magazine in December 2007.

He had been made a Member of the Order of Australia
Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...

 in 1999, but surrendered the award after his criminal conviction.

Career since release

Adler has involved himself in various causes, including helping to promote the "Turn Friday Night Into Family Night" initiative of charismatic rabbi Shmuley Boteach
Shmuley Boteach
Shmuel "Shmuley" Boteach is an American Orthodox rabbi, author, TV host and public speaker.Among other books, Boteach wrote Kosher Sex: A Recipe for Passion and Intimacy, published in 1999, which openly discusses intimacy and sexual intercourse...

, reportedly discussing the initiative with Pope Benedict
Pope Benedict
Benedict is the regnal name of the current Roman pontiff, Pope Benedict XVI and has been the name of fourteen other popes :*Pope Benedict I *Pope Benedict II...

 in May 2010 during the Pope's weekly audience in St Peter's Square.

In 2010, Adler was reported to be providing consulting services on ethical business practices.

External links


See also

  • Ray Williams
    Ray Williams (businessman)
    Raymond Reginald Williams is an Australian businessman and corporate criminal. In 2005 he was imprisoned for two years and nine months for filing false financial statements and failing his duty as a director....

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