ASIC has disqualified former financial and insurance services industry director, Christian Oey, of Dural NSW, from managing corporations for the maximum period of five years due to his involvement in the failure of three companies.

Between May 1999 and November 2018, Mr Oey was the director of two companies in the financial services industry: Clickthru Pty Ltd and O’Corp Media Pty Ltd.

Between September 2019 and March 2021, Mr Oey was an officer of Cornerstone Growth Capital Pty Ltd which also operated in the financial services industry.

Clickthru Pty Ltd formerly traded under the business names ‘Avoid Bankruptcy’, ‘Cornerstone Global Capital’, ‘Clickthru Debt Management’, ‘No Defaults’ and ‘No Bankruptcy’ while O’Corp Media Pty Ltd formerly traded as ‘Christian Atkinson Insolvency Partners’, ‘Clickthru Debt Management’, Cornerstone Global Capital’, ‘Cornerstone Venture Capital’, ‘No Bankruptcy’, ‘Storytellr’, and ‘NoBankruptcy.com.au’.

ASIC found that Mr Oey acted improperly and failed to meet his obligations as a director and officer when he:

• displayed a poor track record in the financial management of Clickthru Pty Ltd and O’Corp Media Pty Ltd, including failure to meet taxation obligations;
• improperly used his position as director of Clickthru Pty Ltd and O’Corp Media Pty Ltd to gain an advantage for himself and others, which caused detriment to the companies;
• failed to prevent Clickthru Pty Ltd from incurring debts while the company was insolvent.
• failed in his duties as an officer of Cornerstone Growth Capital Pty Ltd to hold monies on trust, which were subsequently used for unauthorised purposes to the detriment of the company and investees; and
• breached undertakings to the Federal Court in relation to the property of O’Corp Media Pty Ltd.

At the time of ASIC’s decision, the three companies owed a combined total of $5,850,309 to creditors, including $482,289 owing to the Australian Taxation Office and over $500,000 owing to small business creditors.

In disqualifying Mr Oey, ASIC relied on supplementary reports lodged by the Liquidators of Clickthru Pty Ltd and Cornerstone Growth Capital Pty Ltd, being Gavin Moss of Chifley Advisory and Erwin Rommel Alfonso of Smith Hancock respectively. ASIC assisted the Liquidators to prepare their reports by providing funding from the Assetless Administration Fund.

Mr Oey is disqualified from managing corporations until 6 June 2029.

Mr Oey 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
• practicing in the financial services or credit industry.