Fortescue's founder and executive chairman Andrew Forrest speaks during an interview with Reuters, in Beijing, China March 23, 2024. REUTERS/Tingshu WangSYDNEY : Australian prosecutors have discontinued mining magnate Andrew Forrest's criminal prosecution of Meta over what he said were thousands of scam cryptocurrency advertisements on Facebook that feature his face.
A spokesperson for the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions said on Friday that the department had found there was insufficient evidence to continue the prosecution, but did not elaborate. He had pursued the lawsuit under Australian laws that allow an individual to criminally prosecute a foreign corporation with the consent of the attorney general.
In a filing for that case, Forrest said Meta promised him in 2019 that it would help remove the scam advertisements featuring his face, but that the ads kept appearing for Australian Facebook users, resulting in hefty losses for people who were duped.