ASIC has disqualified Ross David Grant of Frankston Victoria, from managing corporations for three years due to his involvement in the failure of three companies.

From April 2008, Mr Grant was the director of three companies that entered liquidation:

• M2O (Made Two Order) Pty Ltd (ACN 127 422 422) (M2O);
• M2O Interiors Pty Ltd (ACN 617 027 639) (M2O Interiors); and
• Koi Food and Wine Pty Ltd (ACN 612 228 010) (Koi Food and Wine).

M2O and M2O Interiors were involved in commercial construction, mainly dealing with design and installation of shop-fitting projects while Koi Food and Wine was involved in the accommodation and food services industry.

ASIC found that Mr Grant failed to meet his obligations as a director when he:

• failed to lodge BAS and income tax returns with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) for M2O and M2O Interiors;
• failed to pay debts and taxes, including Superannuation Guarantee Charge for M2O and M2O Interiors;
• traded M2O and M2O Interiors whilst knowing they were insolvent;
• failed to take reasonable steps to ensure loans extended to related parties would be recoverable by M2O;
• failed to ensure the business of M2O and all its assets were independently valued and marketed to the public before the business was sold to M2O Interiors and failed to ensure consideration was paid for the sale; and
• did not maintain financial records that allowed financial records to be prepared for M2O Interiors.

At the time of ASIC’s decision, the companies owed a combined total of $4,014,297 to unsecured creditors including approximately $1,092,558 owed to ATO.

In disqualifying Mr Grant, ASIC relied on supplementary reports lodged by M2O liquidator, Mr Matthew Kucianski of Worrells Solvency and Forensic Accountants, and M2O Interiors’ liquidator Mr Shane Cremin of Rodgers Reidy.

ASIC assisted Mr Kucianski and Mr Cremin to prepare their reports by providing funding from the Assetless Administration Fund.

Mr Grant is disqualified from managing corporations until 16 April 2026.

Mr Grant has the right to seek a review of ASIC’s decision by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.

Background

Section 206F of the Corporations Act allows ASIC to disqualify a person from managing corporations for a maximum period of 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 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.