The business records of McCorkell, the agency which went into liquidation just before Christmas, leaving staff without pay and a string of industry creditors, could soon be destroyed.
A destruction motion, put by liquidator Liam Bailey of insolvency firm O'Brien Palmer, was approved by two creditors, according to documents lodged with corporate regulator ASIC.
Those two creditors, among more than 50, are reported to be owed $574,892.
The creditors who voted No are recorded as zero.
The notice of motion was given in December as part of the liquidator’s initial report on the failure of McCorkell and Associates.
Creditors had to prove they were owed money and then vote by Thursday, January 19. Only two did so, according to the liquidator’s records.
The liquidator can now “destroy, at his discretion, the books and records of the company within a period of six months after deregistration of the company”. This is subject to the consent of ASIC.
Without consent, the liquidator would have a claim for the cost of storing those company records.
McCorkell and Associates went into liquidation in December, leaving 18 staff without pay. They are still waiting to receive entitlements and have been told to make a claim under the Fair Entitlements Guarantee, a scheme of last resort, which will take some months to finalise.
The business, including clients and many of the staff from the North Sydney agency founded in 1992, resurfaced in another company, with the similar name.
Scott Keith McCorkell, CEO and founder, "sold" the business on December 14, 2022, for $29,129.61 to a new company, McCorkell Group, which records show was registered November 24. Scott McCorkell is also the director of the new company.
Bailey, the liquidator, had introduced a valuer, Andrew Whittingham of Groves & Partners, to Scott Keith McCorkell to establish a price for the agency, according to documents lodged with ASIC.
This was done in November 2022, before the company went into administration and before Bailey became liquidator.
Bailey’s initial report shows that 40 trade creditors are owed about $1,109,470.98, the biggest being the ATO. The report identifies assets at $174,665.71.
Among the creditors: ATO ($644,026.95), outdoor media group JCDecaux ($32,000.11), LinkedIn ($17,277.15), sales and marketing platform Market Resource Partners Ltd ($28,764.09), digital marketers Trade Indy Pty Ltd ($143,709.43), SEEK ($1,017.50), Rakuten Insight ($1,293.54).
The Australian Tax Office (ATO), corporate regulator ASIC and the Fair Work Commission have been asked to investigate.
An ATO spokesperson: “The ATO cannot comment on the tax affairs of any individual or entity due to our obligations of confidentiality and privacy under the law.”
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