Former G8 boss to face charges

FORMER childcare boss Jennifer Hutson has been committed to stand trial on a raft of corporate charges allegedly linked to Gold Coast-based, ASX-listed G8 Education Ltd.

Hutson, who is the ex-chair of G8, is alleged to have misappropriated $15m in 2015.

Prosecutors have previously alleged that $8.5m of the cash was later spent on shares in the company Affinity Education, instead of being invested in childcare centre opportunities.

G8 had previously launched a failed takeover bid for Affinity, which was blocked by the federal Takeovers Panel in 2015 because of undisclosed links to another corporate entity, West Bridge Holdings.

Hutson is facing a raft of charges, including dishonestly failing to exercise her powers and discharge her duties as a director, dishonest use of her position as a director, nine counts of authorising the giving of false or misleading information to an operator of a financial market, attempting to pervert the course of justice and a further 15 counts of giving false or misleading information. She is also alleged to have made false and misleading statements to the stock exchange about takeover bids and produced false loan agreement documents.

On Thursday she was committed to stand trial in the Brisbane District Court.

Hutson resigned as chair of G8 in 2015 and has previously said through her lawyer that she would be defending the charges. She has not yet been required to enter a plea.