Following an investigation by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), the NSW DPP recently obtained a conviction against the director of a cleaning company (Company) for a breach of section 590(1)(c)(i) of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth.).

Section 590(1)(c)(i) provides, relevantly, that it is an offence where: –

590(1)  A person who, being a past or present officer or employee of a company to which this section applies:

(c)  has, within 10 years next before the relevant day or at a time on or after that day:

(i)  engaged in conduct that resulted in the fraudulent concealment or removal of any part of the property of the company to the value of $100 or more.

Following the liquidation of the Company on about 6 November 2013, the director failed to disclose to the Liquidator the existence of a bank account containing funds belonging to the Company.  The Director then proceeded to withdraw funds from the bank account, in the amount of approximately $2,500

The Director’s sentence which was recently handed down in the Local Court of New South Wales included a two (2) year good behaviour bond, a fine of $500 and a reparation order repay to the Liquidator the funds that had been fraudulently removed from the bank account.

In a recent press release, ASIC has confirmed that the Director has also been disqualified from managing a corporation until 2022.

For more information, please contact ERA Legal.