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Adelaide paper The Advertiser reported yesterday that the offices of VAILO founder Aaron Hickmann had been raided in both by South Australia and Queensland by Australian Federal Police and the Australian Tax Office.
Little in the way of detail regarding the raids has come to light, with Hickmann’s lawyer Greg Griffin issuing a statement to The Advertiser that read: “There is a matter with the ATO, with an objection. It is not related to VAILO. Aaron Hickmann has been compliant”.
According to the latest local reports, Hickmann has not been charged with any offences.
Still, with the VAILO-backed Adelaide 500 just a week away, the matter drew a response from Malinauskas today.
He told ABC Radio that Hickmann has “met his obligations” in regards to the event sponsorship, which allays any fears that the raids could disrupt the Supercars season finale in any way.
“It’s a pretty significant sponsorship in terms of its value, it’s a significant sum of money, and he has paid an awful lot of money to… the Adelaide Motorsport Board through that sponsorship arrangement,’’ Malinauskas said.
“If that changes into the future, then of course there’d be a reassessment. But as yet, there’s not any reason to do so.’’
Malinauskas added: “So these are recent developments. We’ll monitor them.”
The Advertiser also quoted SA’s opposition leader Vincent Tarzia, who labelled the matter a “scandal”.
“This is a key naming rights sponsor, it is not good enough for the government to walk away from this, quite frankly this is a scandal,” said Tarzia.
VAILO has backed the Adelaide 500 since it returned to the Supercars calendar in 2022.
Hickmann, meanwhile, has been linked to Supercars team ownership several times this year.
He is thought to have been in negotiations to buy Erebus at one point, and is currently rumoured to be in advanced talks with Brad Jones Racing over an ownership stake.
