LAWFUEL – The Legal Newswire – The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) obtained orders in the Supreme Court of Queensland yesterday to wind-up a company which despite being registered and in the process of being divested of assets, had no registered office, directors, secretary or anyone in real or apparent control.
The Court ordered that Mr John Richard Park and Ms Lorraine Deborah Smith of KordaMentha in Brisbane be appointed as liquidators to Keystone Developments (Carrara) Pty Ltd.
ASIC had previously obtained orders from the Court on 6 June 2007 appointing
Mr Park and Ms Smith as receivers and managers of the company.
On 29 May 2007, the most recent sole director of the company, Mr Maxim Jack Krilich, of Sydney, purported to appoint administrators over the company following concerns that the company was then insolvent or likely to become insolvent in the future. Mr Krilich had, however, become bankrupt as at 1 May 2007 and was subsequently disqualified from acting as a company director. His purported appointment of the administrator was therefore invalid, leaving no one in control of the company.
‘It is essential that companies be accountable and responsible through their officers and that the affairs of companies be conducted in an orderly fashion with the interests of investors and creditors being properly attended to and protected’, said ASIC’s Executive Director of Enforcement, Ms Jan Redfern.
ASIC’s investigation into the affairs of the company is continuing.
Background
The company, which was registered in Queensland, had allegedly raised over $2.5 million from at least 23 investors in 2005 through the sale of shares. The funds raised were to be applied in the construction of residential units at Carrara in Queensland. The investors were to receive a return of their capital and profits upon the completion and sale of the units in about late 2006.
Although most of the units in the development had been sold ‘off the plan’, the development at Carrara was not completed and ready for sale until about June 2007. In the meantime, mortgagees over the development had taken control, completed the development, and were in the process of selling and settling sales of the units. The report to the Court from the receivers and managers suggests that the development had effectively been abandoned by the company from about September 2006.
The company had previously sold a number of other properties at Upper Coomera in Queensland, which recently settled with a shortfall to a second mortgagee.
The position of the company came to the attention of ASIC’s Enforcement Directorate in early June 2007 when attempts to locate and serve notices on the company and its officers were unsuccessful.
