A Queensland-based financial services company has collapsed into liquidation with millions of dollars in debts.
The Australian Tax Office is reportedly the largest creditor of Gold Coast-based firm Members Alliance and its related entities, with the Gold Coast Bulletin reporting the ATO is owed $29 million.
Of that figure, the company, which was evicted from its rental property earlier this year over unpaid rent, owes $7 million in superannuation to around 90 employees and $800,000 in entitlements to staff from a labour hire firm.
The Gold Coast Bulletin also reports some 30 clients of the company have been left with half-built homes as a result of the collapse.
Jason Bettles and Raj Khatri from Worrells Solvency and Forensic Accountants have been appointed as liquidators and/or voluntary administrators to 18 companies in the Members Alliance group.
According to records from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, Bettles and Khatri were appointed as liquidators to ACN 161 904 776 Pty Ltd, which formerly traded as Members Alliance Rocket Pty Ltd, on July 22.
Bettles told the Gold Coast Bulletin Worrells was appointed as external managers for the group of companies after the directors and shareholders “realised they were never going to repay the debt”.
He said an investigation into the company’s affairs would take some time due to the “sheer size” of the collapse and difficulties accessing the cloud server where the companies’ financial information is stored due to an unpaid IT bill.
According to the website for a company called 1st Home Pty Ltd, Members Alliance is one of a number of companies within Iridium Holdings, along with Iridium Financial Planning, Iridium Merges & Acquisitions and Image Building Group.
Earlier this year, Members Alliance was reportedly facing a wind-up action by a Melbourne-based firm called Atchison Consultants, which was seeking to recover a $50,000 debt that had been outstanding for more than two years.
SmartCompany contacted Worrells Solvency and Forensic Accountants but did not receive a response prior to publication.
The Queensland phone number listed for Members Alliance has been disconnected and the websites for both Members Alliance and Iridium Holdings are not currently available.
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