Stuart Robert says he will sell his stake in a cryotherapy franchise he joined shortly after its founder and managing director was convicted of rape.
Guardian Australia revealed on Friday that the assistant treasurer became a director of the alternative health business Cryo Australia two months after its founder and secretary, Neranjan Agrajith Kalubuth De Silva, 31, was convicted of rape.
Robert joined the firm in August, while De Silva was still before Queensland’s highest court in an unsuccessful bid to overturn his conviction.
Robert said the crime and court action were not made apparent during his “due diligence” on the firm. The assistant treasurer said the first he had heard about De Silva’s conviction was when approached by Guardian Australia.
Robert resigned his directorship of Cryo Australia when he was made a minister in August. Now he has moved to sever another link between him and the firm by selling a stake he owned in the company through a property trust, JM National Property.
“We have already commenced a sale of all of our interest in our company,” he told the Australian.
Robert’s office did not respond to requests for further comment.
Cryo Australia is a Queensland-based alternative health franchise selling cryotherapy – the use of cold, dry air to treat various ailments. The company was set up in 2016 by De Silva, who describes himself as a doctor with medical qualifications from a range of universities. There is no reference to De Silva on the Australian health practitioner regulation agency’s list of registered medical practitioners, though he may have other qualifications that justify his self-description of “doctor”.
De Silva was charged with the sexual assault of a woman in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley in May 2016. He was convicted of one charge of rape and acquitted of another in the Queensland district court in June, and sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment.
Robert said De Silva did not inform him of the conviction or court proceedings.
“Mr De Silva did not disclose his conviction during corporate due diligence and Mr Robert did not know of it until informed now,” a spokesman said last week.
The shadow assistant treasurer, Andrew Leigh, said the allegations about Robert and his business dealings were “worrying, as is their increasing number over recent days”.
“The public deserve to know that everything has been done to ensure that the newly promoted assistant treasurer has done no wrong,” Leigh told Guardian Australia.
“It is essential that someone in his position is above reproach, particularly since the allegations surrounding his involvement as a director of companies would fall under his responsibilities as a government minister.”
Robert’s dealings with Cryo Australia are already under investigation by the corporate regulator, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.
Asic is investigating whether Robert’s failure to give timely notification of his resignation as a director breached the Corporations Act. Robert has said he provided proper notice to the company, which bears responsibility for advising Asic.
The assistant treasurer also courted controversy this month by charging taxpayers about $2,000 a month for his home internet bill. He has since repaid the money.
Guardian Australia has repeatedly sought comment from Cryo Australia and De Silva, but has had no response.
De Silva, who vehemently denied the charges, was found to have digitally penetrated a women who was sleeping on the couch of a mutual friend’s home in May 2016. He was arrested soon after the crime, bailed and sent to immigration detention, where he spent about six months “as a direct result of being charged”. His sentence was later reduced to take into account his time in immigration detention.
• This reporting is supported by the Susan McKinnon Foundation through the Guardian Civic Journalism Trust
