Fed: Rivkin steers clear of jail with medical certificate

AAP General News (Australia)
12-19-2003
Fed: Rivkin steers clear of jail with medical certificate

By Graeme Webber and Emma Ambler

SYDNEY, Dec 19 AAP - Flamboyant stockbroker Rene Rivkin, convicted for insider trading,
won't be spending the festive season behind bars.

Rivkin again played the stay out of jail card today by producing a medical certificate
from his doctor that said he was too ill to serve weekend detention.

He was due to return to jail this weekend to continue his nine-month sentence for illegally
trading in Qantas shares - of which he has served just one day due to ill-health.

But the NSW Department of Corrective Services today received a medical certificate
from Rivkin's doctor saying he was unfit for prison at least until February 13, 2004.

The 59-year-old was sentenced under federal law, leaving the NSW government powerless
to review the unfinished sentence.

NSW Justice Minister John Hatzistergos said Rivkin could evade jail "indefinitely"

if he continued to produce medical certificates.

Mr Hatzistergos said NSW detainees would not be able to avoid their jail obligations
irrespective of their medical state, and would normally face a parole board.

But Rivkin came under federal law and it was the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions
who would decide his fate, he said.

"As long as he has a reasonable excuse he can continue to evade this sentence indefinitely,"

he said.

"If he doesn't have a reasonable excuse ... then it's a matter for the federal authorities
to do something about.

"The DPP is the only authority which can make an application for revocation."

But Opposition justice spokesman Andrew Humpherson said enforcement of a punishment
was a state responsibility and he said the state government should check independently
whether Rivkin had a health problem.

The government should confirm whether Rivkin was a "malingerer", given the growing
public cynicism about the case, Mr Humpherson said.

"It is a state government constitutional responsibility to determine one way or another
whether he has a health problem," he said.

A spokesperson for the Commonwealth DPP declined to comment other than to say the matter
would be considered when it arose.

The charges related to Rivkin's purchase of 50,000 Qantas shares just hours after he
was told by the then executive chairman of Impulse Airlines, Gerry McGowan, of a potential
merger between the two airlines.

The celebrity share trader's first weekend at Sydney's Silverwater Correctional Centre
began on June 13 but ended after only one day when he collapsed during a search for a
contraband mobile phone at the prison.

A medical certificate saying Rivkin was suffering from a mental disorder called hypomania
kept him out of jail for his second scheduled weekend of detention.

Days later brain scans revealed Rivkin had a series of benign tumours, known as multiple
meningioma, growing adjacent to his brain and requiring neurosurgery.

In late June, Rivkin underwent surgery and provided a medical certificate which kept
him out of prison until November 1.

A further medical certificate was lodged, but it was due to expire tomorrow.

A NSW Corrective Services Department spokesman said the Commonwealth DPP had been advised
of Rivkin's latest medical certificate.

The NSW Court of Appeal in October reserved its judgement on an appeal by Rivkin against
his conviction and sentence.

AAP gmw/nf/cbs/mo

KEYWORD: RIVKIN NIGHTLEAD

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