ob体育

media release (20-106MR)

ob体育 disqualifies company directors

Published

ob体育 has adopted a practice of issuing combined media releases about administrative action.聽There is no relationship between the matters or聽the subjects in聽this media release, except that ob体育 has taken administrative action.

Disqualification of Yahya Alameddine

ob体育 has disqualified Mr Yahya Alameddine of Sydney, NSW, from managing companies for the maximum period of five years.

Mr Alameddine was disqualified for his role in the failure of four companies:

  • KEM Group Pty Ltd ACN 613 362 182 (KEM Group);
  • ABT Enterprises Pty Ltd ACN 610 301 589 (ABT Enterprises);
  • GYA Group Pty Ltd ACN 603 108 470 (GYA Group); and
  • World Co Pty Ltd ACN 147 601 821.

The companies were involved in labour hire and consultancy services.

ob体育 found that Mr Alameddine:

  • improperly used his position as a director;
  • failed to exercise his powers and discharge his duties with due care and diligence by continuing to accrue taxation liabilities;
  • demonstrated poor compliance by failing to lodge Business Activity Statements;
  • failed to ensure that employee entitlements were paid;
  • failed to keep adequate written financial records; and
  • failed to provide company books to a liquidator.

The companies collapsed owing creditors $1,558,338.

In deciding to disqualify Mr Alameddine, ob体育 relied on reports lodged by liquidators of the failed companies.聽 ob体育 provided Assetless Administration Funding to the liquidators of KEM Group, ABT Enterprises and GYA Group to prepare supplementary reports.

Mr Alameddine is disqualified until 29 April 2025.

Disqualification of Ron Bensimon

Mr Ron Bensimon (also known as Ronnie Ben-Simon), formerly of Prahran, Victoria has been disqualified from managing companies by ob体育 for three years.

Mr Bensimon was the director of three failed companies:

  • Bensimon Pty Ltd ACN 164 971 224
  • RR Fine Jewels Pty Ltd ACN 163 819 761 (RRF)
  • Bensimon Retail Group Pty Ltd ACN 600 303 240 (BRG).

Liquidators were appointed to all three companies on 1 July 2016. All three companies were involved in the sale of jewelry, which included a store at Crown Casino, Melbourne.

ob体育 found that Mr Bensimon had:

  • failed to ensure that the companies paid their debts and statutory taxes;
  • failed to ensure that the companies lodged tax documents;
  • failed to ensure聽that adequate books and records were kept; and
  • failed to act in accordance with his directors duties.

The total amount of debts owed by the three companies to creditors was in excess of $6.9 million.

In making its decision to disqualify Mr Bensimon, ob体育 relied on supplementary reports lodged by the Liquidators of RRF and BRG.

Mr Bensimon is disqualified until 23 April 2023.

Background

Section 206F of the Corporations Act allows ob体育 to disqualify a person from managing corporations for up to 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 ob体育 about the company鈥檚 inability to pay its debts.

ob体育 also maintains a ' 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 of credit industry.