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The administrator of five troubled companies transferred money to his business and for personal use, court hears.
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Former liquidator pleads guilty to siphoning $2.5m
22 December 2023
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A former liquidator has appeared in court on charges of dishonestly using his role to transfer almost $2.5 million from companies under administration.
Peter Andrew Amos appeared in the Downing Centre Local Court Sydney this week facing six counts of dishonestly using his position as an officer of a company to gain an advantage for his business, Amos Insolvency.
ASIC alleges that from October 2016 to 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 (deed of company arrangement).
- TPC (Vic) (deed of company arrangement).
- POW 4X4 (in liquidation).
- A-Force Electrics (in liquidation).
- Conomi Group (deed of company arrangement).
ASIC alleged that the funds were used to pay the expenses of Amos Insolvency and for Mr Amos’s personal purposes. It said neither was entitled to the funds as all approved remuneration for Mr Amos in the administrations had been paid.
The regulator also alleged that Mr Amos diverted a contribution of $500,000 for Conomi's deed of company arrangement to Amos Insolvency, with $390,000 of that 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.
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For offences committed prior to 13 March 2019, the maximum applicable fine is 2,000 penalty units or imprisonment for five years, or both. For offences occurring after that date the maximum penalty is 15 years’ imprisonment.
Mr Amos was a registered liquidator from May 2006 to May 2023 and the sole director of Amos Insolvency, which conducted an insolvency practice between 2015 and 2022. He was appointed as voluntary administrator, and later as deed administrator of a deed of company arrangement, in relation to Mikcon, TPC and Conomi, as well as liquidator of POW and A-Force.
The investigation was a collaboration between ASIC and the ATO under the Serious Financial Crime Taskforce.
Professional insolvency body ARITA terminated the membership of Mr Amos in August 2022 for failing to provide a reasonable response to concerns about one of his appointments.
Its professional conduct committee had previously determined that an independent quality review needed to be undertaken in relation to the appointment, but Mr Amos had failed to co-operate in time and was recorded as failing the review.
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