Former registered liquidator Peter Andrew Amos appeared in the Downing Centre Local Court on 19 December 2023 charged with six counts of dishonestly using his position as an officer of a company to gain an advantage for his business and himself contrary to s184(2)(a) of the Corporations Act.

Mr Amos was a registered liquidator and business owner of Amos Insolvency Pty Ltd (Amos Insolvency).

ASIC alleges that in the period 6 October 2016 to 31 December 2022, Mr Amos transferred a total of $2,498,546.45 from the accounts of the following companies to Amos Insolvency:

• Mikcon Employment Services Pty Ltd (Deed of Company Arrangement) (Mickon);
• TPC (Vic) Pty Ltd (Deed of Company Arrangement) (TPC);
• P O W 4X4 Pty Ltd (In Liquidation) (POW);
• A-Force Electrics Pty Limited (In Liquidation) (A-Force); and
• Conomi Group Pty Limited (Deed of Company Arrangement) (Conomi).

ASIC alleges that once the funds were transferred, they were used to pay expenses of Amos Insolvency and for Mr Amos’ personal purposes.

ASIC alleges that Mr Amos and Amos Insolvency had no entitlement to these funds, as all approved remuneration for Mr Amos in the administrations had been paid, and no additional remuneration determinations had been made by the creditors of the companies.

ASIC also alleges that Mr Amos diverted a contribution of $500,000 for Conomi's Deed of Compony Arrangement to Amos Insolvency. $390,000 of that amount was subsequently repaid.

Mr Amos entered a plea of guilty to the six charges and was committed for sentence to Sydney District Court for mention on 2 February 2024.

The investigation was a collaboration between ASIC and the ATO under the Serious Financial Crime Taskforce (SFCT) and is being prosecuted by the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions.

Background

Mr Amos was a registered liquidator from 11 May 2006 to 11 May 2023.

Mr Amos has been the sole director and a shareholder of Amos Insolvency since 1 December 2008.

Between 2015 and 2022, Amos Insolvency carried on business as an insolvency practice.

Mr Amos was appointed as Voluntary Administrator, and later as Deed Administrator of a Deed of Company Arrangement, in relation to Mikcon, TPC and Conomi. Mr Amos was appointed as the liquidator of POW and A-Force.

The holding of these positions rendered him an officer of these companies for the purposes of the Act.

In relation to the offences committed prior to 13 March 2019, the maximum applicable penalty is a fine of 2000 penalty units, or imprisonment for five years, or both. For offences occurring after 13 March 2019, the maximum penalty is 15 years imprisonment.

The Serious Financial Crime Taskforce is an ATO-led joint agency taskforce that brings together the knowledge, resources and experience of relevant law enforcement and regulatory agencies to identify and address the most serious and complex forms of financial crime.

The SFCT started operation on 1 July 2015.

From this date until 30 September 2023, the Taskforce has progressed cases that have resulted in:
• more than 1,900 audits and reviews
• the conviction and sentencing of 30 people
• raised liabilities of over $1.8 billion
• revenue collection of approximately $739 million.

For more information on the SFCT, including the identikit outlining key financial crime personas, visit ato.gov.au/SFCT.

Editor's note:

On 2 February 2024, the District Court of New South Wales listed the matter for a sentence hearing on 17 June 2024.