Aus Music Charity Missing Money According To Ongoing Allegations

Allegations that the former Chairman of Australian live entertainment awards, the Mo Awards, owes a significant amount of money to the events' benevolent fund are casting a shadow over next week's ceremony.

Once one of Australia's top award ceremonies for the live entertainment industry and generating wide TV and media coverage, the Mo Awards were set in 1976 up by Johnny O'Keefe and Don Lane. A registered charity, funds are used to help entertainers in need of help to pay day-to-day living expenses, medical fees or similar.

Earlier this year allegations emerged that then Chairman Glenn Ware was using the company's ABN number to hire out Parramatta Town Hall, in Sydney's West, for record fair events. Claiming that profits would be directed to the Mo Awards, it has been alleged that Ware kept the profits – potentially totalling $250,000 – for himself.

At one point he used music industry charity Support Act's name to promote an event, something the group's CEO Joanna Cave told A Current Affair earlier this year that he was never authorised to do.

“Support Act had no prior knowledge of the Collectables Fairs at Parramatta Town Hall,” Cave told theMusic.com.au today. “We have never authorised Mr Ware to use our charity's name in association with these Fairs and we have never received any of the proceeds.”

“Glenn Ware is known to Support Act as an organiser of a social lunch event called The Debonairs, which is entirely separate from and independent of Support Act and which Mr Ware organises on a voluntary basis. In the past, he has used these events to raise money for charity.

"Over a number of years, Support Act has gratefully received charitable donations from The Debonairs, about which we have had no reason to be concerned. However, Mr Ware no longer raises money for Support Act.”

Ware, who resigned from his post as Chairman after the A Current Affair episode in which he proclaimed innocence, told The Daily Telegraph, “I have resigned from the Mo Awards. It's been a dreadful experience, you can imagine how I feel about it. I really would not like to talk about it.”

Current Acting Chairman Warren Kermond said that private investigators had looked into the case and that it “has shown prima facie evidence Mr Ware used his position in an inappropriate manner… It is in the hands of our legal team and we cannot make any comment until it has been resolved.”

Former treasurer Rhonda Schou, who has been outspoken in her criticism of Ware told the paper, “Why won't they release this report? What have they got to hide?… We still don't know exactly how much money was raised in our name and not passed on.”

The Mo Awards will take place at Bankstown Sports Club next Tuesday.