Unfortunately we are quite powerless when it comes to pursuing this matter further with ASIC. I believe that William Buck will not pursue this matter either as it requires additional funds to lodge a case against the directors of the company (this can only occur in a liquidation scenario, at the moment it is a VA where William Buck are assessing the viability of STI, and make a recommendation as to whether it should be wound up or continue to trade). In my experience, there are usually insufficient funds to lodge an investigation with ASIC and evidence will need to be strong of director wrongdoing. The worst thing that can happen to the directors is to be banned from being a director for a period of x amount of years depending on the severity of the matter whether it be trading whilst insolvent, fraud, related company transactions etc.
Put it this way. We can only hope that we as creditors of the company receive a portion of the cents in the dollar if the company is wound up. Very unlikely as insolvency practitioners squeeze every dollar out of the company as they can. That's their business margin at the end of the day.
Aps, the UBS relationship sounds very fishy, and it wouldnt surprise me if all these guys are mates and setup companies on the side. A director search of PB is what I would like to see. This will show the companies he has been involved with in the past and I am sure there are linkages with other companies such as Bluehawk. Unfortunately I dont work for William Buck and even if I did it is most probably not in the creditors interests to utilise the remaining funds (if any) to pursue the matter further.
Lets see how this unfolds. My heart goes out to everyone who has lost their hard earned dollars, i am disgusted that directors get away unscathed and I have seen it many times before. The wonderful 'limited liability' notion that characterises a company definately works against us unsecured creditors.
STI Price at posting:
0.2¢ Sentiment: None Disclosure: Held
