ASIC has disqualified Gregory Romano Lavopa, of Beverley Hills NSW, from managing corporations for the maximum period of 5 years, after his involvement in three failed companies.
Between 2018 and 2021, Mr Lavopa was a director of Sydney based labour hire service companies: Premier Holdings Group Pty Ltd (de-registered), Byron Resourcing Pty Ltd and Project Service Holdings Pty Ltd (de-registered).
ASIC found that Mr Lavopa's management fell significantly below the standard expected of an Australian director in that he:
- failed to lodge required tax documents with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) in respect of Premier Holdings and Byron Resourcing,
- failed to keep sufficient business records in the case of Project Service,
- failed to assist the liquidator in the winding up of Byron Resourcing, and
- in relation to Premier Holdings, there was persistent under-charging of invoiced services with the effect that statutory liabilities (including superannuation, workers' compensation, and taxation) were not provided for.
Across the three companies, $4.1 million was owed to 20 unsecured creditors, with $100,000 owed to seven small business operators and $3.2 million to statutory agencies, including the ATO.
In deciding to disqualify Mr Lavopa, ASIC relied on statutory reports lodged by Peter Amos of Amos Insolvency, Leumeah, NSW, who was the Registered Liquidator of Premier Holdings; Shumit Banerjee of Westburn Advisory, Sydney, who was the Registered Liquidator of Byron Resourcing; and Scott Turner, who was appointed Registered Liquidator of Project Service. ASIC assisted Mr Banerjee to prepare his supplementary report by providing funding from the Assestless Administration Fund.
Mr Lavopa is disqualified from managing corporations until 12 August 2029.
Background
Section 206F of the Act allows ASIC to disqualify a person from managing corporations for a maximum period of five years if, within the seven-year period prior to ASIC taking action, the person was an officer of two or more companies, and those companies were wound up and a liquidator provides a report to ASIC about each of the company's inability to pay its debts.
ASIC maintains a banned and disqualified persons register that provides information about people who have been disqualified from:
- involvement in the management of a corporation;
- auditing self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs); or
- practising in the financial services or credit industry.
