A man pronounced dead after emergency services were called to a Sydney hotel has been confirmed as former Jirsch Sutherland partner Sam Henderson.
Police were called to the Vibe Hotel in North Sydney around 3pm on Tuesday, April 4 amid concerns for a man’s welfare.
“On arrival, officers from North Shore Police Area Command found a 45-year-old man deceased,” NSW Police Media said in a statement.
Enquiries confirmed the deceased was Henderson, a father of five who in recent years had been beset by legal and financial challenges arsing from his involvement with a range of corporate entities in the payroll and labour hire sectors wound up by the Australian Tax Office (ATO).
As a consequence of one such ATO-initiated winding up Henderson was subsequently bankrupted in August 2019 upon the application of Mike Smith in his capacity as liquidator of Central Management (NSW) Pty Ltd.
Smith won judgment against Henderson for breaches of a director’s statutory and fiduciary duties and when Henderson failed to pay the final instalment of the sum the Smith Hancock principal had no choice but to seek sequestration.
Henderson’s trustee Brad Tonks of PKF confirmed that Henderson was discharged from bankruptcy in November 2022.
By all accounts Henderson was extremely well regarded by those who knew him for his engaging personality and as a schoolboy had been an elite rugby player.
He was a prolific work winner for Jirsch Sutherland, where he worked until 2013. After a short stint at Cor Cordis he set up as a consultant but his fortunes soured as debts owed to the ATO by companies he was linked to as either director or shareholder ballooned to more than $25 million.
Police confirmed that inquiries into the circumstances surrounding Henderson’s death are continuing.
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How tragic
Big memories, larger than life bloke.