The liquidator, Shane Deane of Dye&Co, of failed Melbourne print group Waratah Group - the convoluted Group of several printers that went bust in March 2020 owing an estimated $22 million amid claims of corruption and backhanders - has lodged a wind-up application on Oakleigh, Vic family printer Genuine Print. With larger targets such as Australia Post, Spotlight Group and St Vincent's Hospital disputing phantom invoices, it appears that the liquidator is going for a 'soft' target.
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| Oakleigh, Melbourne family printer Genuine Print appears to have been unfairly targeted by the Waratah liquidator |
Liquidators have a duty to try and recover funds owing to liquidated companies, ostensibly on behalf of creditors but so often recovering no more than enough to pay their own fees and secured creditors' debts - leaving unsecured creditors, staff, the ATO and superannuation funds out of pocket. Such was the case with the liquidation of Waratah Group, where the government FEGS programme was called in to repay an estimated $4.5 million in unpaid wages, entitlements and super. Waratah was the Frankensteined composite of printers such as Mercedes Waratah, Docklands Print, Ability Printing and others including wideformat signage printer Pumpkin Digital.
However, the legitimacy of the invoices issued by a failed company is not often questioned. That Waratah was engaged in corrupt practices has been clearly demonstrated when it was discovered that a family member of a senior executive at World Vision, a charity, had been receiving $3,000 a month for 'advisory' services. Backhanders to most honest people. Waratah won the $2.5 million World Vision print contract.
As the liquidation of Waratah progressed, renowned printer Finsbury Green bought its customer list and two of Waratah's directors joined Finsbury Green. Four months later, when the Sydney Morning Herald revealed the corrupt World Vision payments, the duo resigned from Finsbury with Managing Director Peter Orel saying at the time that his business: "needs the freedom to operate without any potential concern or negativity related by association (with the duo)." Finsbury Green was in no means implicated in this corrupt arrangement, it was prior to their buying the client list.
No record of invoices
Large creditors such as Australia Post ($138,000), Spotlight Group ($1.3 million) and St Vincent's Hospital ($ unknown) say that they can either find no record of the invoices, or that they are for work they have no knowledge of. All the signs point to some sort of invoicing scam going on, where related third-party companies were used to channel money and assets.
So, it appears that, with 'hard' targets with access to expensive lawyers who dispute the invoices are not pursued; 'soft targets' such as Genuine Print, run by Genine Thornton since 2009 (a person renowned for her charitable support of Melbourne's homeless, with her son's Anonymous X organisation), is being hit with a winding up order for non-payment of invoices that it says it does not owe, issued by a company that was proven to act corruptly, and has cost the taxpayer and suppliers at least $22 million.
Comment from liquidator Shane Deane has been sought but not yet received.
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