> Marnie and Geoff [shareholders/occupants] didn’t understand: The company constitution said the park couldn’t be sold without 80 per cent of shareholders agreeing. That had been part of the sales pitch: “The dream is to be debt-free in your own home … without the risk that someone else can sell it out from under you.”
>But now, the administrators were in charge. And they were, in fact, selling the park from underneath them.
>The buyer would once again be Janet and Graeme — only this time, without the shareholders.
justfademebro on
That’s fucked up.
Pay yourself so much money as CEO/majority owner that the company goes bankrupt, then use that money to buy full ownership when it goes into liquidation.
One of those things that obviously shouldn’t be allowed but somehow is perfectly legal.
turbodonkey2 on
Title is a bit too clickbaity for me to read.
B0ssc0 on
> There is evidence, though, of significant legal fees. In one instance, Vrisakis charged $12,000 to attend the park’s annual general meeting. The Supreme Court later questioned Janet and Graeme’s decision to bill their legal fees to the residents’ company.
>The couple also retrospectively charged the company $50,000 in “directors’ fees” for their time spent preparing for the proceedings.
As the (imo opinion heroic) ‘peoples’’ lawyer says’,
> Peter says these battles have destroyed his faith in Australia’s under-resourced regulators.
>“If there’s a big deal involving millions or billions of dollars, they might take that one on. But when it’s just a bunch of pensioners at Coolah … they say, ‘tough’,” he says.
>“There’s a lot at stake here for 30-odd pensioners who were trying to do the right thing and fund their own retirement.
>“When the shit hit the fan, there was no-one there to help them.”
4 Comments
> Marnie and Geoff [shareholders/occupants] didn’t understand: The company constitution said the park couldn’t be sold without 80 per cent of shareholders agreeing. That had been part of the sales pitch: “The dream is to be debt-free in your own home … without the risk that someone else can sell it out from under you.”
>But now, the administrators were in charge. And they were, in fact, selling the park from underneath them.
>The buyer would once again be Janet and Graeme — only this time, without the shareholders.
That’s fucked up.
Pay yourself so much money as CEO/majority owner that the company goes bankrupt, then use that money to buy full ownership when it goes into liquidation.
One of those things that obviously shouldn’t be allowed but somehow is perfectly legal.
Title is a bit too clickbaity for me to read.
> There is evidence, though, of significant legal fees. In one instance, Vrisakis charged $12,000 to attend the park’s annual general meeting. The Supreme Court later questioned Janet and Graeme’s decision to bill their legal fees to the residents’ company.
>The couple also retrospectively charged the company $50,000 in “directors’ fees” for their time spent preparing for the proceedings.
As the (imo opinion heroic) ‘peoples’’ lawyer says’,
> Peter says these battles have destroyed his faith in Australia’s under-resourced regulators.
>“If there’s a big deal involving millions or billions of dollars, they might take that one on. But when it’s just a bunch of pensioners at Coolah … they say, ‘tough’,” he says.
>“There’s a lot at stake here for 30-odd pensioners who were trying to do the right thing and fund their own retirement.
>“When the shit hit the fan, there was no-one there to help them.”