Security kingpin Micky Ahuja holds bizarre press conference in Sydney warehouse
As Micky Ahuja’s world came crashing down around him last year, the private security leader deployed tried-and-tested tactics to minimize the damage.
First: deny, deny, deny. Second: delay. For months, Ahuja has refused to answer detailed questions about the collapse of the once booming MA Services Group, allegations of tax evasion and worker exploitation, revelations about links to a cycling network and allegations of predatory behavior, including rape, by several women.
His approach didn’t work. On Tuesday, Ahuja opted for a radical change of strategy and held a bizarre “no-holds-barred” press conference in a Sydney warehouse with the help of famous broadcaster Max Markson. Ahuja suddenly turned into a man who had answers for everything.
Not personally, though. Ahuja fled to Dubai last year after his MA empire collapsed and has no intention of returning to face the music. He told him via video link that moving to the Middle East was just a matter of being a good family man. “We always travel as a family in December and January,” he explained. “When I moved here, I didn’t know the business would collapse. As you can see, my priority now is to earn a good income to support my son and my wife, and I’m trying to do that.”
He initially denied setting up any business in the United Arab Emirates, but records revealed a new firm under his name, FM Services LLC-FZ. “Just registering a business does not mean you will start a business,” Ahuja insisted after being presented with the registration papers.
Agitated and at times exasperated, he spent an hour and a half claiming that the avalanche of allegations from regulators, former staff, women who worked for or knew him and customers were “bogus”, maliciously motivated, lacking context or misunderstanding how corporate Australia works. His argument was based on the belief that he was also the unluckiest and most unfairly targeted man in the country.
Ahuja said his career was defined by “hours of work, effort, tears and sweat.” However, this imprint was subjected to an eight-month joint investigation and 60 Minutes It also shows that it is constantly full of mistakes.
MA Services was once a fast-growing Australian security company whose clients included major retailers Coles, its biggest customer, as well as Kmart, Bunnings and Amazon, AFL clubs, the Melbourne spring racing carnival, the Australian Grand Prix and federal government agencies.
It collapsed on Christmas Eve last year, leaving 1,700 people unemployed and a number of creditors facing huge unpaid bills.
Operation Hermes, a multi-agency law enforcement and regulatory investigation, is examining tax evasion related to MA Services and a number of related companies.
The MA union under investigation is suspected of pocketing more than $100 million in unpaid taxes and workers’ benefits. Ahuja said on Tuesday that the ATO had sent him an invoice for nearly $14 million in unpaid taxes, which he had formally disputed.
Much of his disdain was reserved for award-winning Australian journalist Nick McKenzie, who exposed Ahuja’s lies and misdeeds through an investigation by this imprint. 60 Minutes.
Ahuja said about the reporter, “I think he should quit journalism and become a screenwriter for TV series and movies.”
He repeatedly challenged McKenzie to agree to a one-on-one live interview, after warning that it had not been edited and would be broadcast on one of Nine’s rival networks. (Grandma is the owner of this tag). McKenzie needn’t have bothered to dismiss the request, calling it “silly” – television executives would have laughed at the notion outside the room.
For McKenzie, Tuesday’s surreal press conference was a chance to ask dozens of questions that Ahuja had dodged. Their answers failed during forensic examination.
Why did 20 MA Services subcontractors go bankrupt, owing a total of $65 million to the ATO? “I cannot answer that,” Ahuja replied. When pressed, he could recall one company that collapsed, and eventually two companies.
“Have you ever run a business?” Ahuja finally responded. “You don’t understand how a business works. You need to understand what it’s like to run and grow a business from scratch.”
He asked McKenzie to send him evidence of the collapse of 20 firms. “Oh, sorry,” said McKenzie. “These are corporate records. Available online!”
Ahuja also defended the supermarket’s ethics team, delivering heartburn-inducing praise at Coles head office, declaring the team “one of the best we’ve ever worked with”.
He stumbled when he read Coles’ latest statement accusing Ahuja’s company of running “a complex and deceptive scheme designed to successfully conceal breaches of workplace laws from Coles.” “They have all the data, they have all the pay stubs,” he said.
Before his company’s collapse, Ahuja lived a luxurious lifestyle that consisted of driving a Rolls-Royce 4WD, two Mercedes G-Wagons and a Lamborghini Urus.
Ahuja said he sold some of his many properties and sold three of his six luxury watches “to pay for food.” Asked if he would use the proceeds from any sales to pay off his out-of-pocket costs in Australia, he denied ever owing money to anyone or being underpaid.
On the most serious allegations facing Ahuja – two rape allegations and other serious allegations of sexual harassment – the former young entrepreneur of the year went on the offensive, making a series of allegations about the women, their motives and their backgrounds. He offered little or no evidence to support his claims.
Sara*, a former police officer under the MA Services umbrella, told a joint inquest at the weekend that Ahuja took her to his hotel room at Melbourne’s Crown casino in April 2019.
He said he fainted and woke up “panicked” and alone in the room. “I was naked and there was vomit on the side of the bed, then the bottom half of the bed and a small part of me was covered in blood,” she said. The blood was from the laceration Sara suffered during the alleged rape.
Sara’s real name was not used during the investigation to protect her privacy. However, Ahuja named him in Tuesday’s press conference; this was a statement that could constitute a criminal offense if made in some Australian states. He also claimed there was “chemistry” between them and that they were in a relationship after the Crown casino encounter in 2019.
“I did not rape her and if she thinks I did I encourage her to go to Victoria Police today,” he said.
Ahuja repeatedly denied being Sara’s boss, but eventually admitted that she worked for MA Services, a subcontractor that hires security guards.
Some of his criticisms of Sara veered into outright narrow-mindedness; He claimed he once drove four hours to collect a pet bird for her birthday and “unfortunately died on the way back.”
In a series of Snapchat messages, Ahuja was revealed to have offered to pay a woman named Rachel* $1,000 for sex on multiple occasions. The offer was made at a time when MA Services was financially vulnerable due to the departure of one of its senior executives.
One message read: “Do you want to make love, kiss those lips. Let’s make a deal? $1000 every time we meet.” Another said: “I’m happy to pay. I’ve asked a million times already.”
Ahuja said Tuesday that the two had a “flirtatious friendship” and acknowledged that he displayed a “serious lack of judgment.” While he confirmed much of Rachel’s story, he maintained that the Snapchat screenshots of him offering to pay for each “catch” were fabricated. He said there were no records of the two’s historic conversations to prove his claim.
This was a bridge too far for McKenzie, who told Ahuja: “So everyone who makes sexual harassment allegations against you is either making up messages or has a dodgy past?”
McKenzie tried to question Ahuja further, but the businessman blocked him. McKenzie left in disappointment, leaving time for reporters gathered at the warehouse in the Sydney suburb of Alexandria to ask a few final questions, including whether it was tiring to be a compulsive liar.
“No, because I’m not a liar,” he replied with a straight face. The broadcast ended and Ahuja went to look for breakfast in the Golden City.
*Names have been changed.
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
National Sexual Abuse and Resolution Support Service 1800 211 028
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