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Convicted chartered accountant David Brandi has now been banned from managing corporations for five years for his involvement in three failed companies that collectively owe creditors over $73 million.
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ASIC bans accountant over $73m failure
09 August 2021
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7 minute read
The ban from ASIC comes after Mr Brandi had last week pleaded guilty to fraudulently obtaining $135,248 in GST refunds by falsifying business activity statements lodged on behalf of clients.
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He was sentenced to two years in jail but released immediately on a $5,000 good-behaviour bond.
The corporate regulator said its own investigations found that Mr Brandi was the former or shadow director of three Victorian companies that had liquidators appointed between 2014 and 2019.
The three companies — Sputnik Holdings Pty Ltd, Independent Tube Mills Pty Ltd and Melbourne Property Group Pty Ltd — owed creditors approximately $73.7 million, including $12.8 million owed to the ATO.
ASIC said Mr Brandi had failed to ensure Sputnik and ITM complied with their tax lodgement obligations, and failed to ensure that Sputnik kept written financial records.
ITM’s books and records were also found to be wanting, with ASIC noting that Mr Brandi failed to provide liquidators of Sputnik and ITM with company records.
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He was also found to have entered into an asset sale agreement with a related entity and leaving large liabilities in Sputnik, and entering into a deed of assignment on behalf of Sputnik that assigned all its rights to claims, insurance policies and any other rights to a related entity that resulted in an insurance payout of over $2 million that was instead paid to the related entity.
In making its decision, ASIC relied on supplementary reports lodged by Stephen Michell of PCI Partners as the liquidator of Sputnik, and Michael Quin of Bent & Cougle as the liquidator of ITM.
Mr Brandi, the principal of accounting firm Brandi & Co, has also had his tax agent registration terminated by the Tax Practitioners Board. He has since lodged a review of the TPB’s decision with the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.
His ASIC disqualification will run to 29 July 2026.
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