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Supermarket giant Coles displayed the \u201cmorals of an alley cat\u201d as it supported the systemic exploitation and underpayment of supermarket security guards across Australia, turning a blind eye to glaring indicators that its major contractor was a corrupt tax dodger.<\/p>\n
An independent regulator probe has identified serious wrongdoing by Coles, with a top official accusing it of signing up for the \u201ccomprehensive abuse\u201d of Australia\u2019s industrial relations and taxation systems through its relationship with security provider MA Services.<\/p>\n
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Labour Hire Authority boss Steve Dargavel has blasted Coles for its relationship with MA Services Group.Jason South<\/p>\n
The scandal extends to widespread visa rorting, with multiple Coles guards telling this masthead they worked in flagrant breach of their student working conditions, sometimes working 60 or 80-hour weeks across multiple supermarkets.<\/p>\n
While this masthead\u2019s and 60 Minutes\u2019 eight-month investigation into MA prompted the security giant\u2019s Christmas Eve collapse and multiple inquiries, the focus has shifted onto Coles\u2019 due diligence in paying the security firm $50 million a year to secure its stores.<\/p>\n
Labour Licensing Commissioner Steve Dargavel accused Coles of entering into its deal knowing MA was rotten and that the workers guarding its stores would be exploited.<\/p>\n
\u201cColes \u2026 had enough information to know that workers could not be paid properly under the contracts that they entered into\u201d with MA Services, said Dargavel, who heads Victoria\u2019s Labour Hire Authority.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Dargavel said customers, like Coles, had displayed the \u201cmorals of an alley cat\u201d in working with MA to undercut honest operators.<\/p>\n
MA Services was once a booming Australian security company whose clients included major retailers Coles \u2013 its biggest customer \u2013 as well as Kmart, Bunnings and Amazon, AFL clubs, the Melbourne spring carnival, Australian Grand Prix and the federal government.<\/p>\n
Its sudden Christmas Eve collapse came after this masthead first unearthed evidence of the involvement of its chief executive and founder Micky Ahuja<\/a> in alleged rampant worker exploitation, sexual harassment and significant suspected tax evasion.<\/p>\n It was also revealed that his firm had partnered with a company controlled by the Finks outlaw bikie gang to deliver a lucrative offshore security contract bankrolled by the Albanese government.<\/p>\n Newly uncovered evidence shows Coles did not act on clear red flags about Ahuja\u2019s links to alleged unlawful activity, including rampant worker exploitation or his previous efforts to launch a sex worker escort business, Sin City Entertainment.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we now know is that there were thousands of workers who had their wages stolen,\u201d Dargavel said in an exclusive interview in which he revealed his agency had launched its own investigation into MA Services\u2019 \u201cgobsmacking\u201d operations.<\/p>\n That investigation would look at MA\u2019s dealings with Coles and other major corporate customers, he said.<\/p>\n Editor’s pick Dargavel\u2019s authority is part of a federal and state joint police and regulatory taskforce initiative probing MA, and which includes the Fair Work Ombudsman \u2013 the agency that would most likely lead any civil action or prosecution of Coles.<\/p>\n He said Coles\u2019 contract price with MA made it clear security guards would be underpaid.<\/p>\n \u201cMathematically, those contracts did not add up at all,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Asked why Coles had not been held to account for profiting from the exploitation of thousands of its guards, Dargavel said: \u201cThey shouldn\u2019t get away with it. They need to be held to account for it.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s been enormous harm to small business, medium-sized business and large business who do the right thing. And there\u2019s been enormous harm to vulnerable workers in this country.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Ahuja refused repeated interview requests but has previously denied all wrongdoing.<\/p>\n Beyond the contracts that indicated mass worker exploitation, Coles missed or ignored other red flags about MA including information that should have been easily accessed by Coles.<\/p>\n A basic search of Ahuja\u2019s prior corporate directorships, for example, reveals he started a company in 2013 called Sin City Entertainment to supply sex workers. Ahuja also held the business rights to the names Sin City Escorts and Melbourne Top Escorts.<\/p>\n Due diligence checks would have also revealed Ahuja\u2019s links to a network of front companies, once again raising red flags for corruption given many of the same companies had collapsed owing the Tax Office millions or appeared to be fronted by dummy directors.<\/p>\n Such searches had been done by some other MA corporate clients as far back as 2019, with leading security expert Graham Manson saying that some had previously sacked MA because of its obvious misconduct.<\/p>\n Manson said he conducted an audit six years ago that found \u201ca number of things that caused us real concern\u201d, ranging from MA subcontracting to unlicensed entities to charging its customers for ghost shifts that were never worked, posing a threat to public safety.<\/p>\n He described what he found as \u201ca big red flag\u201d that was \u201cso obvious that you didn\u2019t really have to go looking for it\u201d.<\/p>\n Editor’s pick While they wore MA uniforms, Ahuja\u2019s largely migrant workforce was employed via front companies, fixers and ostensibly arms-length corporate entities to avoid paying MA worker entitlements and tax obligations.<\/p>\n Corporate and financial records analysed by this masthead reveal that almost two dozen companies involved in Ahuja\u2019s security empire collapsed owing $65 million to the Australian Taxation Office. In addition to those debts, MA\u2019s Christmas Eve collapse left another $19 million owed to the Tax Office.<\/p>\n Dargavel estimated the dirty money trail could involve \u201chalf a billion dollars of turnover that should have been going to [other] legitimate businesses that conduct themselves lawfully and ethically\u201d.<\/p>\n Multiple MA guards that worked at Coles or with other MA clients said they worked without any or minimal overtime, sick or annual leave or superannuation.<\/p>\n If they complained, an MA fixer would commonly threaten to report them for breaching a 24-hours-a-week work limit on student visa-holders, risking deportation.<\/p>\n After one worker, named Ali, wrote to an MA fixer to complain about overtime, the man responded via WhatsApp with the threat that \u201cyour visa over-exceeded hours\u201d and \u201cbreached of [sic] visa condition\u201d, which would be reported to Australian authorities.<\/p>\n Assigned to four different Coles stores across Melbourne, Ali\u2019s job was to deter, and occasionally confront, shoplifters.<\/p>\n Late last year, Coles publicly complained about the rising dangers its staff faced of violence in-store from thieves.<\/p>\n In a statement, Coles said any exploitation of workers was unacceptable and that MA had misled the company through the use of false documents, and rejected Dargavel\u2019s claims it should have known MA\u2019s contracts would lead to underpayment or unpaid taxes.<\/p>\n Related Article \u201cThese are serious allegations and we refute them,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n Coles said it undertook detailed due diligence and ongoing monitoring including worker interviews and independent audits.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat is now clear is that MA Services operated a sophisticated and misleading scheme designed to successfully conceal breaches of workplace laws from Coles and a range of other corporate and government clients,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n \u201cAs soon as Coles became aware of the serious allegations, we commenced an internal investigation and immediately began assessing all available options, including termination of the contract, to ensure the matter was treated with the utmost seriousness.\u201d<\/p>\n The supermarket giant in February revealed a net profit<\/a> of $511 million, which was dragged down after it had to set aside $165 million to cover penalties from another underpayment scandal<\/a>.<\/p>\n In its statement, Coles said it had responded to a labour hire authority request for information late last year but no concern had been raised with it about pricing.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is completely unclear how the alleged accusation now made has any basis,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n \u201cColes takes its ethical sourcing, modern slavery, and corporate governance obligations seriously, and we acknowledge the importance of robust due diligence in managing labour-rights risks.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n It also noted MA Services had remained a licensed security provider throughout its time working with Coles.<\/p>\n A Kmart spokesperson said it required all suppliers to comply with the law and its policies, and that it ended its relationship with MA when it went into administration.<\/p>\n A Bunnings spokesperson said the hardware giant took the reports about MA seriously and that it, too, had required MA to comply with workplace laws.<\/p>\n \u201cDuring the period MA Services was engaged by Bunnings, it held valid security and labour hire licences and Bunnings reviewed and verified its governance policies,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n When MA Services went under, Bunnings helped find jobs for the affected guards, it said.<\/p>\n For more, watch 60 Minutes, 8.40pm on Sunday night.<\/p>\n Start the day with a summary of the day\u2019s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n![\"MA](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/57ea30f60b4b00c12ad4828c9b5890219d7643ad.jpeg\")
MA Services Group\u2019s Micky Ahuja with Melbourne Demons players.<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/07032760c3e8fa82d3e330beb9b05fcfe50b6331.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Security](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/33b69ff2776b98d73f99570c0b4b6e6eb3d8d347.jpeg\")
Security industry expert Graham Manson. 60 Minutes<\/p>\n![\"MA](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/401a123ac3f0baa34a70b09295c71c099bcf493cbb3fdbfa2c0bf4a571d211ad.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"MA](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/70aa8ebf9c2ff0e8157bc865b7af66f8eb12dca9.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Nick](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/2607dc7d0bce6837f07d379a9a5b2856ce871e1e.png\")
Nick McKenzie<\/a> is an Age investigative journalist who has three times been named the Graham Perkin Australian Journalist of the Year. A winner of 20 Walkley Awards, including the Gold Walkley, he investigates politics, business, foreign affairs and criminal justice.Connect via email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":523401,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-523400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/523400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=523400"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/523400\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/523401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=523400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=523400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=523400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}