Conduct

Liquidator eyes $800k, receivers eye conduct inquiry

PwC’s Andrew Scott. KordaMentha partner Kate Conneely. PwC’s Andy Scott is looking at this point the only obvious winner among the parties scrimmaging over a $2.28 million pot of excess cash Scott has generated in his role as liquidator of Parkway One Pty Ltd and receiver manager of the Parkway One Unit Trust. The other parties – those asserting to be lenders with secured interests…


Accused phoenix tsar facing committal over not much

Philip Damien Whiteman. Photo courtesy ABC News. It’s been some time coming but accused tax fraud mastermind Philip Damien Whiteman this week finally had a day in court in relation to allegations of illegal “phoenix” activity. On Monday the 62 year old “pre-insolvency service provider” from Port Melbourne was charged in the County Court of Victoria with nine offences of dishonestly causing a loss to…


Derailed insolvent trading case burns Pitchers pair

Pitcher Partners’ Andrew Yeo. Pitcher Partners’ Gess Rambaldi. There must’ve been some choice words in the offices of Pitcher Partners Melbourne after a court refused Andrew Yeo and Gess Rambaldi’s application for judicial indulgence in respect of the late submission of evidence critical to a $6 million plus claim for insolvent trading against Simon Freeman of LGL Commodities. Those choice words however remain unpublished, whereas…


Severe reprimand and immaterial fine for liquidator

Aston Chace co-founder Steve Naidenov. Liquidator and CPA Australia (CPAA) member Steve Naidenov was left licking his paper cuts recently after CPAA’s Disciplinary Tribunal smote him with what passes for wrath in the age of safe spaces. A reprimand – category severe – and $2000 in fines is what the Aston Chace co-founder incurred in respect of complaints whose origins harken back to when he…


Liquidator alleged to have knowingly misled court

Liquidator Gavin Moss outside the NSW Supreme Court this week. Never has iNO regretted scheduling a dental appointment more than when an hour of root canal on Wednesday morning led to us missing the moment liquidator Gavin Moss was alleged to have knowingly misled a court. Stoically endured and lavishly anaesthetised discomfort aside, the making of this allegation before NSW Supreme Court judge Kate Williams…


Liquidator resigns and refunds but questions remain

Departed CPAA director and Brooke Bird partner Robyn Erskine. Brooke Birds’ Adrian Hunter. iNO suspects that there is plenty left unsaid in the recent announcement by CPA Australia (CPAA) that director Robyn Erskine had fallen on her sword and resigned, effective from March 4. In an email to members sent last Friday CPAA said that Erskine, the first female liquidator to be made a Life…


For Bettles or Worse ASIC seeks life ban

Worrells partner Jason Bettles. Editor’s Note: On Friday, August 18, 2023 Justice Brigitte Markovic of the Federal Court of Australia dismissed ASIC’s case against liquidator Jason Bettles and ordered the regulator to pay Bettles’ costs. The corporate regulator has returned to the fray in its ongoing campaign to rub out Jason Bettles, calling for the Worrells partner to be stripped of his liquidator’s ticket and…


AFSA acts after court suspends liquidator

Macks Advisory’s Peter Macks. AFSA deputy ceo Gavin McCosker Adelaide resident and insolvency practitioner Peter Macks would no doubt have anticipated this week’s announcement by the Australian Financial Security Authority (AFSA) advising that it had sent him to the naughty corner. It was less than a fortnight ago that a judge of the Supreme Court of South Australia suspended Macks’ registration as a liquidator for…


Macks cops 3 year suspension for dishonesty

Macks Advisory’s Peter Macks. A judge of the Supreme Court of South Australia has ordered that the registration of liquidator Peter Ivan Macks be suspended for three years after finding that he had fabricated documents in a failed bid to divert scrutiny of his conduct by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). The finding of dishonesty by Justice Sam Doyle handed down last Friday…


ASIC retreats on bid to ban liquidator

Trajan John Kukulovski. Well a three year suspension sounds preferable to cancellation of one’s registration as a liquidator so iNO reckons there was cause for celebrations aplenty over Christmas in the household of John Kukulovski. Kukuwhoski you ask? For readers unaware of the object of iNO’s interest, we refer you to the public announcement of this great nation’s corporate regulator on January 13, 2021. On…