Latest news with #liquidators
ABC News
3 days ago
- Business
- ABC News
Ethics committee finds David Crisafulli failed to declare $200,000 payment to liquidators
Queensland Premier David Crisafulli failed to declare a $200,000 payout to liquidators pursuing an insolvent trading claim against him, a parliamentary committee has found. The failure of Mr Crisafulli to list the liability on his MP register of interests was "careless", the bipartisan ethics committee found in a report tabled on Friday. But the committee absolved Mr Crisafulli of any contempt of parliament, saying it could not find adequate evidence that he had knowingly failed to disclose the payout tied to a private training company he had run. Mr Crisafulli maintained the report had cleared him of wrongdoing but refused to answer how he had paid for the $200,000. "I've met my obligations," he said at least four times. The committee's findings stem from exclusive ABC reports last year revealing liquidators of the training organisation SET Solutions believed it may have been trading insolvent from the day Mr Crisafulli started as a director. The ABC later revealed Mr Crisafulli had paid $200,000 to settle the insolvent trading claims. During a break from politics in 2015, Mr Crisafulli took a job as sole director and chief executive of Melbourne-based SET Solutions. The company received government funding to teach courses ranging from health administration to freight handling. But the company had been struggling financially long before he took the role on December 1, 2015. Mr Crisafulli only stayed until April 1, 2016, and the company collapsed into voluntary liquidation on June 30, 2016. Liquidators from PwC subsequently told creditors their investigations "indicate the company appears to have traded while insolvent from at least December 1, 2015". They pursued an insolvent trading claim against Mr Crisafulli. Mr Crisafulli signed a deed of settlement with the liquidators and made three payments while he was in Opposition: $80,000 in March 2020, $60,000 in July 2020, and $60,000 in July 2021. "The payments were made with the joint understanding of no admission of liability and no findings made against me," Mr Crisafulli told the ethics committee, in a letter tabled in its report. MPs are required to declare liabilities of more than $19,000 but Mr Crisafulli disputed the notion the upcoming payment to the liquidators constituted the definition of liability. "I note that the payments were made in order to compromise certain statutory claims that a party was threatening to pursue by litigation but which had not been established," he wrote. A finding of contempt of parliament would have required the committee to establish on the balance of probabilities that the premier knowingly failed to list the debt. Mr Crisafulli maintained to the committee he never believed he had a liability to declare. The committee determined there was "evidence that the premier ought to have known that such payments were to be declared or at least sought the Registrar's advice". That included him having met with the Clerk of Parliament to discuss requirements of the register. But Mr Crisafulli never sought advice about if he should have declared the liquidator debt. "In hindsight, I should have sought the advice of the Clerk," he told the committee. The committee said Mr Crisafulli's thinking at the time "appears to have been mistakenly focused on dealing with the issue in the context of director liabilities under corporate law rather than his [register disclosure] obligations". The committee also noted it could not "identify how the alleged failure to declare the liability would give rise to a conflict of interest or a perception of a conflict of interest between the premier's private interests and the public interest". Mr Crisafulli declined to discuss whether he had been under any financial stress at the time the payments were being made. Listed assets and liabilities on Mr Crisafulli's register at the time include a multi-property portfolio and six mortgages with Bank of Queensland. Mr Crisafulli's splitting of $200,000 in liquidation settlement payments into three tranches over 16 months raised speculation within the insolvency industry about whether it indicated a degree of financial strain. The ABC can reveal that 10 months after that last payment was made, Mr Crisafulli's private family company Crisafulli Financial Services offloaded a property in Townsville for $230,000 — crystallising a $57,000 gross loss after holding the property for almost 12 years. Advertisements for the sale, which conceded the property "needs work", show a rapid push to sell with the price heavily knocked down. "The owner's instructions are clear, and this will be gone before the end of the financial year so it's a situation of first in best dressed!" the advertisement said. Deputy Opposition Leader Cameron Dick pointed to Mr Crisafulli last year maintaining he had met his obligations, when asked if he should have declared the liquidator liability. "David Crisafulli has been saying over and over that's he complied with his obligations. Well, he did not," he said. "That is in black and white in this report. Mr Dick also said serious questions remained for Mr Crisafulli to answer how the settlement payment was made. "Where did the money come from? Where did the $200,000 come from — you know, who's got $200,000 lying around in a bank account that he can just use to pay this?"
The Sun
4 days ago
- Business
- The Sun
Kate Moss' wellness firm Cosmoss goes BUST with staggering 7-figure debt as model returns to partying ways
KATE Moss's wellness brand Cosmoss has gone bust with debts topping £2.9million. Papers signed by the model, 51, show the company has little more than £5,000 in the bank and £241,000 of leftover stock. 3 In total, it owes unsecured creditors £2,939,729.29. A source said: 'Kate turned her back on partying in lockdown and became obsessed with wellbeing and healing. 'But now she's gone full circle and is back on the party circuit, it seems the business has hit the skids, too. 'She has called in liquidators and now just wants to put it behind her. "Kate put her heart and soul into Cosmoss, but it didn't work out.' The Cosmoss website — selling products including a £125 Sacred Mist perfume and £95 pots of face cream — is no longer taking orders. A section called Kate's Corner has not been updated since February. Kate launched the brand in 2022 and said ditching her old life in London for a fresh start in the Cotswolds had given her a new focus. She said: 'I wanted to create something that would help me feel more grounded, something I could share.' At the end of 2023 Kate was back out on the party circuit. Watch worrying moment Kate Moss looks 'on edge and frantic' as she poses front row at Paris Fashion Week Last October she was spotted falling out of a taxi following her daughter Lila's 22nd birthday celebrations in Paris. And in January she held a raucous birthday bash at The Dorchester in London.
Irish Times
5 days ago
- Business
- Irish Times
Joint provisional liquidators appointed to ‘Polo Stores' eastern European food shops
The High Court has appointed joint provisional liquidators to two companies behind the 'Polo Stores' franchise which imports and retails central and eastern European food supplies. The court heard that due to a serious conflict between the two 50 per cent shareholders and directors, Alexandr Vakiy and Max Bulgakov, the companies were sliding into insolvency and there was a concern that the situation could affect the goodwill of suppliers. Maxela Ltd and EastDeli Ltd were set up by Ukrainian citizens, Mr Vakiy and Mr Bulgakov who came to Ireland in the late 1990s and opened a number of grocery stores. There are now 15 Polo Stores operated by Maxela across the country. EastDeli operates a store in rented premises in Clondalkin, Dublin. READ MORE On Tuesday, Cian McGoldrick BL, instructed by Darragh O'Donovan of Orpen Franks Solicitors, told Mr Justice Brian Cregan the winding up petition was brought on behalf of Mr Vakiy in order to safeguard the goodwill of the companies and because of material concern that the relationship with suppliers was being undermined, In the petition, it is claimed the relationship between the two men previously broke down resulting in Mr Vakiy bringing shareholder oppression proceedings. Mr Bulgakov alleged Mr Vakiy was party to an extensive €18 million fraud, a claim strongly denied by Mr Vakiy who said no evidence emerged supporting any fraud on the companies in this amount. The oppression proceedings were withdrawn earlier this month but the issues they had raised 'continue to seriously affect the management of the companies'. Mr McGoldrick told the court Mr Bulgakov had unilaterally blocked access to online banking facilities which meant staff and suppliers could not be paid. The firms have between €700,000 and €900,000 in working capital but supplier costs alone are €450,000 a week which means they could 'slide into insolvency' in a matter of two weeks, he said. The petition states the companies are 'effectively paralysed due to an irreconcilable breakdown in the relationship of trust and collaboration between the two shareholders and directors'. It is also claimed there has been a recent credible offer of interest from a third party operating in the same industry in acquiring the whole the business as going concern, or its core assets. Mr Justice Cregan said he was satisfied to appoint Brendan O'Reilly and Mark Degnan of Interpath Advisory (Ireland) as joint provisional liquidators. He was satisfied the companies are insolvent and unable to pay debts as they fall due and that there is a good prima facie case that it is likely the winding up order will be obtained. This was on the basis that the relationship between the two shareholders is hopelessly deadlocked and there is a serious conflict between them, he said. He granted orders giving certain powers to control the company to the provisional liquidators and said the petition to appoint full liquidators can be heard next month.
CNA
28-05-2025
- Business
- CNA
Australia sues ex-director of crypto exchange Blockchain Global over alleged duty breaches
Australia's corporate regulator said on Wednesday that it has initiated civil penalty proceedings against Liang (Allan) Guo, a former director of the failed cryptocurrency exchange firm Blockchain Global, alleging multiple breaches of duties. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission's allegations in the federal court are in relation to Guo's involvement in Blockchain Global's operation of a cryptocurrency exchange platform, ACX Exchange, which collapsed around December 2019, when customers began being unable to withdraw funds or cryptocurrency from their accounts. The allegations relate to Guo's dealings with ACX Exchange customer funds, statements made about those dealings and obligations to keep proper books and records. The regulator had started an investigation into the firm in January 2024, following a receipt of a report from the firm's liquidators, which said that Blockchain Global owed around A$58 million ($37.3 million) to unsecured creditors as of October 2, 2023. Guo was barred from leaving the country in February 2024, but left Australia on September 23, 2024, following the expiry of his travel restraint orders, the regulator said. Blockchain Global had no published contact information and could not immediately be reached for comment. ($1 = 1.5562 Australian dollars)
Reuters
28-05-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Australia sues ex-director of crypto exchange Blockchain Global over alleged duty breaches
May 28 (Reuters) - Australia's corporate regulator said on Wednesday that it has initiated civil penalty proceedings against Liang (Allan) Guo, a former director of the failed cryptocurrency exchange firm Blockchain Global, alleging multiple breaches of duties. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission's allegations in the federal court are in relation to Guo's involvement in Blockchain Global's operation of a cryptocurrency exchange platform, ACX Exchange, which collapsed around December 2019, when customers began being unable to withdraw funds or cryptocurrency from their accounts. The allegations relate to Guo's dealings with ACX Exchange customer funds, statements made about those dealings and obligations to keep proper books and records. The regulator had started an investigation into the firm in January 2024, following a receipt of a report from the firm's liquidators, which said that Blockchain Global owed around A$58 million ($37.3 million) to unsecured creditors as of October 2, 2023. Guo was barred from leaving the country in February 2024, but left Australia on September 23, 2024, following the expiry of his travel restraint orders, the regulator said. Blockchain Global had no published contact information and could not immediately be reached for comment. The firm's liquidator, Andrew Yeo, did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment. ($1 = 1.5562 Australian dollars)
