ASIC has disqualified Richard Andrew Sparreboom of Chirnside Park, Victoria, from managing corporations for the maximum period of five years due to serious misconduct.
Between March 2019 and March 2022, Mr Sparreboom was the director of two companies that entered liquidation:
- Sparrk Logistics Pty Ltd
- Hedgehog Logistics Solutions Pty Ltd
Mr Sparreboom's conduct in relation to the failure of Hedgehog Group Holdings Pty Ltd was also considered in ASIC's decision in whether the disqualification was justified.
All three companies were involved in the business of transport, postal and warehousing.
ASIC found that Mr Sparreboom acted improperly and failed to meet his obligations as a director when he:
- failed to lodge activity statements and income tax returns for Sparrk Logistics with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO),
- deleted books and records and produced false records of Sparrk Logistics,
- failed to prevent Sparrk Logistics from breaching an EarlyPay agreement,
- authorised Hedgehog Group and Sparrk Logistics to make payments that were not in the best interests of the companies, including unfair preferential payments when Hedgehog Group was insolvent, and
- allowed Hedgehog Group and Sparrk Logistics to continue to trade for significant periods of time after there were numerous indicators that the companies were insolvent.
At the time of the ASIC decision, the three companies owed $9,809,880 to 178 unsecured creditors and $1,201,740 to former employees for unpaid wages, superannuation, and leave entitlements.
In disqualifying Mr Sparreboom, ASIC relied on supplementary reports lodged by liquidators, Anne Meagher of SV Partners and Suelen McCallum of DVT Group.
Ms McCallum assisted in preparing the report after ASIC approved funding from the Assetless Administration Fund.
Mr Sparreboom is disqualified from managing corporations until 11 August 2029.
Mr Sparreboom has the right to seek a review of ASIC's decision by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.
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.
