Two former Statewide Super executives have been acquitted of dishonesty charges following a trial in the District Court of South Australia.
Former Statewide chief risk officer (CRO) Kieran Francis Netting was acquitted by jury on 7 October, while his colleague Grant David Eastwood, former Statewide chief financial officer (CFO), was acquitted on 15 October.
ASIC had alleged Eastwood dishonestly used his position in the procurement of a firm, Cosight Pty Ltd (formerly known as Fintrix Systems Pty Ltd), to provide services to Statewide. He had commenced as Statewide CFO in February 2016.
Similarly, allegations against Netting included dishonestly using his position regarding a review he conducted connected to the appointment of Cosight to deliver services to Statewide. He commenced as CRO in February 2017.
The pair had appeared before Adelaide Magistrates’ Court in February 2024 and pleaded not guilty to all charges before being committed to trial in the District Court in September 2025.
Responding to a question on notice from Liberal senator Andrew Bragg earlier this year around ASIC’s civil and criminal action against individuals involved in the “continued scandals plaguing” the super industry, the regulator named the case against Netting and Eastwood as its only example.
“ASIC is prosecuting two former executives of Statewide Superannuation Pty Ltd (Statewide) (now merged with Host-Plus Pty Limited), for dishonesty offences related to their procurement of services between February 2019 and December 2019,” ASIC said in March.
It added: “ASIC has taken criminal action against various individuals involved in misconduct connected with superannuation, including through the transfer of funds from superannuation accounts to self-managed superannuation funds. However, these cases are not included in this response as they relate to the actions of investment managers, financial advisers, or promoters, rather than conduct by officers or employees of superannuation trustees.”
South Australian industry fund Statewide merged with Hostplus in April 2022.
This matter was prosecuted by the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions after a referral from ASIC.
It certainly smells of ASIC needing an Industry Super Fund scalp and they chose to pursue this? All the while when First Guardian and Shield were ripping clients blind? And these Statewide guys have their reputation shredded and life upended? The judge said one of them did not even have a case to answer. Surely we can expect more from ASIC and the government. Is there any accountability here?