accounting procedures. The accountants reported that many of the financial records were fraudulent. There were also concerns about assets reported on the books as "containerised safety equipment", which had been used as surety against multimillion-dollar loans. The accountants discovered that most of the containers on the books did not exist. Those that did exist were of inferior quality, sold by the supplier for use as garden sheds, and empty. A thorough investigation of finances revealed that the company was insolvent, and owed A$300 million to major Australian banks. The company was placed into liquidation, and the liquidators sued the auditors in Australia's largest audit compensation claim. The Commonwealth Bank of Australia sued Friedrich and other directors of the company. Executive director John Friedrich resigned, and went into hiding. A warrant was issued for his arrest on suspicion of fraud. A nationwide manhunt received near saturation media coverage. Friedrich was arrested in Perth on 6 April 1989, and extradited to Victoria. He was initially charged with one count of obtaining financial advantage by deception. On 1 November 1989, he was charged on a further 91 counts of obtaining property by deception. Friedrich attempted to suppress publication of details about the collapse, but Supreme Court of Victoria ruled it was in the public interest. Aftermath The Victorian Commission for Corporate Affairs conducted an investigation into NSCA's finances, and addressed the wider issue of exemptions for non-profit companies. It recommended that exemptions on reporting be dropped, although the exemption from using the word Limited in the title was retained. This was backed up by a major restructure of Australian corporate law, which came into effect on 1 January 1991. On 27 July 1991, John Friedrich was found dead on his farm near Sale, Victoria, with a single gunshot to the head. His death was ruled to be suicide. It was discovered that he was not an Australian citizen. This caused considerable embarrassment to the Department of Defence, which had given Friedrich a security clearance and almost unlimited access to RAAF bases. A subsequent investigation by the Department of Immigration found that Friedrich's real name was Johann Friedrich Hohenberger, a citizen of West Germany, who was wanted in that country on fraud charges. Today Today, NSCA is a membership-based organisation promoting safety awareness, and providing occupational safety and health training, consulting and auditing. NSCA has offices throughout Australia, in major capital cities and regional