Credit: Photo 131794642 / Asic © Ricky Kresslein | Dreamstime.com
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has disqualified the directors of two separate former IT companies from managing corporations for over three years.
According to a statement from the commission, Benjamin David Coventry Brown of Brisbane, Queensland, was disqualified from managing a business due in part to the alleged failure of running SL Consulting, which provided IT services to generate and optimise internet traffic.
He also was a director of Mistyak, which operated two restaurants in Milton, Queensland.
In a separate case, James Sackl, of Southbank, Victoria, was also disqualified from managing corporations for three-and-a-half years due to his alleged involvement as director in the failure of five companies, one of which being software development business Dash Technologies.
In addition, he was also a director at registered training organisation (RTO) cooking school Ad Astra, animal feed producer Karma3, migration agency Sino Resources and immigrant employment agency Universal between 2013 and 2018.
Brown’s companies went into liquidation between 2015 and 2016. During that time, ASIC alleged he failed to ensure SL Consulting complied with tax obligations and allowed the business to pay its sole employee a salary in excess of their contractual entitlements.
ASIC also alleged Sackl failed to comply with his core duties as a director when he used his position to gain an advantage for himself and his mother by putting Dash through a refinancing agreement to get funds in order to settle personal loans.
Additionally, the commission alleged he failed to maintain proper financial records, including the lodgement of business activity statements and PAYG summaries with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), traded while insolvent, failed to submit to liquidators a report on company and activities as well as a copy of relevant software, Xero records and access to bank accounts “as soon as practicable” after winding the business up.
In addition, ASIC alleged both men owe creditors millions of dollars; Brown’s companies owe $1.5 million, with $1 million of this owed to the ATO, while Sackl’s five businesses have run up $2.9 million in total, which includes $830,000 to the ATO and $118,000 to the Attorney-General’s department in relation to the Fair Entitlements Guarantee.
Brown is disqualified from managing corporations until 8 November 2025, while Sackl’s disqualification lasts until 3 November 2025. Both men have the option to appeal these decisions.
