NEWS DESK
Gatto collector was ‘bodyguard to the stars’ Neil Walker neil@mpnews.com.au WESTERN Port’s latest business tenant is a man with a colourful and celebrity studded past. Anthony Swords, managing director of Gatto Corporate Solutions, has leased office space at 12 High St, Hastings and will open for business this week (‘Gatto’s mate gets ready to collect’, The News 3/2/15). Gatto Corporate Solutions and its affiliated Victorian Racing Collections are primarily debt collection firms linked to underworld figure Mick Gatto, although the former head of the notorious Carlton Crew, the criminal gang brought to TV screens in the Underbelly series, does not have a current
Fake notes POLICE are urging retailers and businesses to watch for counterfeit notes. Fake $50s and $100s have appeared along the southern peninsula. To identify them, recipients can try to tear a corner of the note. If it tears, it could be a fake. Also, do a scrunch test. If the note is made of paper, when scrunched it won’t return to being flat. Notes discovered in the Rosebud area have been thicker than normal. If in doubt, compare one to another in a wallet or from a cash register. Anyone handed a counterfeit note is asked to give it to police. They should get descriptions of people who pass the notes and the vehicles they drive.
Charity golf day FLINDERS Lions will hold its 27th annual charity golf day on Monday 16 February. The venue is the Flinders Golf Club, 1 Bass St, Flinders. Registration is from 8am at the club. Men’s and women’s stableford rules play will begin at 8.45am with a shotgun start. Players without club handicaps will be handicapped using the Callaway system. Players can bid for auction and silent auction prizes. All levels of players from beginners to single-figure handicappers are welcome. Entry fee of $70 a player includes lunch, door prizes, snacks and refreshments during play. Entry forms are available at flindersgolfclub.com.au The closing date for entries is Friday 13 February or when filled. Details: Email gragab7@bigpond. com or call Keith Hando, 5989 0404 or Gabby Crehan, 0417 104 722.
stake in the businesses. Mr Swords says Mr Gatto is his “mentor”. The businessman has headed up Gatto Corporate Solutions since mid-2011 and the Hastings office is a “satellite office” for the company. The company’s website states: “So you read the papers, heard the name, perhaps even watched a TV series, in turn you have googled the name Gatto. Perhaps you have been told ‘get Gatto to solve your problems’ but who is Gatto? If your business has a problem, our business has the solution. Gatto Corporate Solutions Pty Ltd is a professional business solutions company specialising in collecting money, mediations and pre litigation.” Years before he became Gatto Cor-
“My mother was Scottish and she’d roll over in her grave if I didn’t ask for Scotland back so I did.” Early last year, the Herald Sun reported Mr Swords had allegedly threatened the wife of the agent of former AFL Sydney Swans star Warwick Capper. Dandenong Magistrates’ Court ordered Mr Swords “to undergo anger management counselling and do 150 hours of community service”. “Which Scotsman hasn’t?” Mr Swords said. “You raise your voice in Australia and you get sent down for anger management.” He said it was “thrown out” and he ultimately did not have to attend anger management classes. Mr Swords was reportedly trying to recover disputed money related to the
MARKETING expert Jacki Mitchell took over Radio Port Phillip’s Taking Care of Business program about 18 months ago and made her national television debut last Tuesday on Sky News. RPP FM’s manager Brendon Telfer says he’s not surprised Ms Mitchell and her show have been picked up by Sky News: “Jacki is an award-winning brand, marketing and business strategist with an incredible CV. She’s a natural on radio and I can see why TV would want her,” he said. Ms Mitchell will appear on Sky’s Small Business program every month, with her next appearance on Tuesday 24 February between 2-3pm. Her show on the peninsula’s community radio station is every Friday from 11am-midday. Ms Mitchell moved to the peninsula in what she describes as a “love change” rather than a seachange after meeting her partner at the Sorrento Hotel several years ago. “It was easier for me to move to the peninsula as my partner is a builder,” she said. She knows the peninsula well after spending many summer holidays with her extended family o cousins and aunts at holiday homes between Mt Martha and Portsea. The couple own holiday rental Limoncello in Sorrento. “It’s named after an Italian liqueur made in Sorento, Italy,” she said. Ms Mitchell started her own business – Brandstorm Marketing – 14 years ago after working for companies such as Toyota, Australia
Last week’s article ‘Gatto’s mate gets ready to collect’ (The News 3/2/15) stated the office was leased by Century 21 real estate agent Chris Watt. This is not the case. Mr Watt has had no business dealings with Gatto Corporate Solutions or Victorian Racing Collections.
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Brand guru: Jacki Mitchell of Rye presents a business program on Radio Port Phillip every week and is now on Sky News every month. Picture: RPP FM
Post, Spotless Services, CitiPower, Yarra Valley Water, and Tennis Australia (her first job after gaining a Bachelor of Arts and Social Science at university – she helped organise the Legends of Davis Cup event for the 1988 bicentenary). On RPP, Ms Mitchell covers a wide range of business topics including social media, patents, trademarks, staffing, banking, and change management. Recent shows have focused on a particular industry – construction last Friday and travel the
week before. Sky News contacted Ms Mitchell late last year and she made her debut in a 10-minute segment last Tuesday. “I talked about tips for business success, including the impact of social media, safety nets for small businesses, and mentoring,” she said. “My job is to inspire and challenge people with small businesses or those planning to start one.” The Mitchell name is well known to Essendon Football Club supporters: her dad Hugh Mitchell is in the
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Essendon Hall of Fame. The double premiership player and 1959 club best and fairest played 238 games for the Bombers including under legendary coaches John Coleman and Dick Reynolds as well as with Coleman during his spectacular playing days. Taking Care of Business is broadcast every Friday at 11am on RPP FM 98.7. It can be streamed from the RPP FM website, rppfm.com.au, where there are links to podcasts of previous programs. Mike Hast
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sale of a sex tape starring Capper. The High St office space, opposite Hastings Library, was leased by Harcourts real estate agent Jason Dowler. Mr Dowler did not wish to comment about the lease “for privacy reasons” but said the landlord had approved the two-year lease application when it was put to him. Harcourts’ Hastings office is located next door to Gatto Corporate Solution’s new High St premises.
Business expert going Sky high
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porate Solution’s sole shareholder, Mr Swords was a bodyguard for several celebrities between 2000 and 2007. “I had the Australian Idol contract for a couple of years so looked after Shannon Noll and Guy Sebastian,” he said. Richard Branson, Elton John and “anyone who came into Victoria at the time when I was working” were also flanked by Mr Swords. “I worked on The Footy Show for four years for Channel 9 so I did all their personal protection when the stars would come in.” Perhaps the biggest “celebrity” Mr Swords has met is Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. He said he attended a function in the UK last year and “the Queen stopped and said hello to me”.
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