Aaron Bunch Journalist with Australian Associated Press | Collection of published work | + 61 484 008 119 | abunch@aap.com.au
Qld liquidator pleads guilty to fraud
A former Queensland liquidator who stole $800,000 from a company he’d been appointed to dissolve has pleaded guilty to fraud.
November 8, 2018
A former Brisbane liquidator has pleaded guilty to embezzling $800,000 from a property development company he’d been appointed to dissolve.
David John Leigh, 56, of Sherwood, admitted three counts of fraud in Brisbane Magistrates Court, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission said in a statement on Thursday.
The corporate watchdog said between July and November 2017, Leigh transferred the money from Neolido Holdings Pty Ltd’s external administration bank account to an account he controlled and used it for his own purposes.
The former partner of PPB Advisory had been appointed as a co-liquidator of the south Brisbane-based property development company in 2010 after it was wound up following a court application by ASIC.
Following an investigation by ASIC, Leigh’s registration as a company liquidator was suspended in 2018 and Leigh agreed to resign as external administrator of all his current appointments, ASIC says.
Replacement liquidators have since been appointed to 16 companies Leigh was the sole liquidator of.
The maximum penalty for fraud involving $100,000 or more is 20 years’ imprisonment.
A date is yet to be determined for Leigh’s sentencing in Brisbane District Court.