Allan Raad of Wentworthville, NSW and his brother-in-law Yousef Joseph Bazouni of Sandringham, NSW, have pleaded guilty in the Downing Centre District Court to ASIC charges of breaching their director duties and fraudulently removing company assets.
ASIC had alleged that on about 2 July 2011 in Sydney, NSW Mr Raad dishonestly used his position as a director of Cornish Property Services Pty Ltd (the Company) with the intention of indirectly gaining an advantage for himself by causing the assets of the company to be sold to Flow Management Pty Ltd, Mr Bazouni's company, for an amount of $20,000. Some of these assets were later sold for $176,000 with $126,000 of these funds being deposited into an account held by Mr Raad and his wife. ASIC had also alleged that in the period between 21 July 2011 and 13 August 2011 Mr Raad fraudulently removed $21,609.16 and $16,044.93 which belonged to the Company. It was alleged by ASIC that Mr Bazouni aided Mr Raad in these alleged offences.
The charges were brought against Mr Raad and Mr Bazouni following an ASIC investigation into the sale of the Company assets shortly before it was placed in liquidation.
Messrs Raad and Bazouni appeared on 18 October 2017. The matter was adjourned for mention to 21 November 2017 at the Downing Centre Local Court.
The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions is prosecuting the matter.
Background
Mr Raad has been charged with one count under s184(2) of the Corporations Act and two counts under s590(1) of the Corporations Act. Mr Bazouni has been charged with aiding and abetting Mr Raad in committing these offences pursuant to Clause 11.2(1) of the Commonwealth Criminal Code.
The maximum penalty for a breach of s184(2) is 2000 penalty units or imprisonment for five years, or both.The maximum penalty for a breach of s590(1) is 100 penalty units or imprisonment for two years, or both.
Editor's note 1:
This media release has been amended since its original publication on 24 October 2017, following a hearing on 21 November 2017 where Allan Raad and Yousef Joseph Bazouni pleaded guilty to the ASIC charges. The updated media release was published on 4 December 2017.
The matter has been adjourned to 20 July 2018 for sentence.
Editor's note 2:
Sentencing submissions were heard on 20 July 2019. The matter was adjourned for sentence until 23 August 2018.