Majid El-Debel of Sydney, NSW, has been disqualified from managing companies for four years for his involvement in three failed companies.

Between 2004 and 2019, Mr El-Debel was a director of three companies:

• So Mr I Pty Ltd (ACN 108 357 268)
• Surfers Paradise Pizza Company Pty. Limited (ACN 137 324 415)
• Masa Operations Pty Ltd (ACN 163 312 301)

So Mr I was incorporated as an investment vehicle and acted as a trustee for a family trust. Surfers Paradise Pizza and Masa operated in the food services industry.

ASIC found that Mr El-Debel failed to:

• act in good faith and in the best interests of So Mr I by not managing conflicts between his personal interests and the entities he managed;
• ensure that So Mr I and Surfers Paradise Pizza met their tax obligations, particularly in relation to the lodgement of documents with the ATO;
• pay employee entitlements of Surfers Paradise Pizza; and
• address insolvency issues and prevent Surfers Paradise Pizza from incurring debts when it was insolvent.

At the time of ASIC’s decision, the three companies owed unsecured creditors $2,932,185, including $1,657,465 owed to the ATO.

In deciding to disqualify Mr El-Debel, ASIC relied on supplementary reports lodged by the liquidator of So Mr I, Paul Weston of DW Advisory and the liquidator of Surfers Paradise Pizza, Gavin Moss of Chifley Advisory. ASIC assisted the liquidators of So Mr I and Surfers Paradise Pizza to prepare supplementary reports by providing funding from the Assetless Administration Fund.

Mr El-Debel is disqualified from managing corporations until 12 October 2025.

Background

Section 206F of the Corporations Act gives ASIC the power to disqualify a person from managing corporations for a maximum period five years if, within a seven-year period, 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 the company’s inability to pay its debts.

ASIC also 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
• practicing in the financial services or credit industry.