Damian Griffiths started restructuring assets five months before declaring personal bankruptcy

FAILED Brisbane restaurateur Damian Griffiths restructured his assets before declaring personal bankruptcy, declaring a series of barriers between himself and his creditors, who are owed $3.3m.

Damian Griffiths photographed in Fortitude Valley by Steve Pohlner.

ERECTING HURDLES

Damian Griffiths started restructuring his assets with a new director, shareholder and trustees at least five months before declaring personal bankruptcy last week.

The question is why?

Well, City Beat spies familiar with the complex arrangements say it now clearly makes the job much harder for bankruptcy trustee Raj Khatri to recover money.

The failed Brisbane restaurateur has, in effect, thrown up numerous barriers between himself and his creditors, who are owed $3.3 million.

OLYMPUS RISING

Records show that Griffiths created two entities, Olympus Capital and Olympus Equities, in November as the unpaid bills piled up across his now-collapsed hospitality empire.

The only director of both these entities is his long-time mate Roland “Roly’’ O’Regan, a Gold Coast solicitor. Both entities are owned by his Dalby-based mum, Kay.

Olympus Equities now owns Griffiths’ entity DT & MF Holdings Pty Ltd, which in turn is the registered sole owner of a valuable property at Surfers Paradise.

Griffiths shelled out
$1.22 million in mid-2015 for the River Drive home, which O’Regan just happens to list as his residence in business records.

Similarly, O’Regan became the sole director of Griffiths’ company Marie Stuart Investments Pty Ltd in October.

That entity is listed as the owner of a four-bedroom home in New Farm now on the market, with agents seeking offers above $1.175 million.

Griffiths shelled out $800,000 for the Terrace St property in late 2009 and it has been for sale since November. That followed a failed attempt to sell it in 2015.

Despite the roadblocks aimed at thwarting them, bankruptcy trustees are not powerless. Like a liquidator’s ability to void certain transactions, they can unwind certain deals given the right circumstances. Khatri told us yesterday that if there were an eventual beneficial interest in a property that could be traced to Griffiths, then it could well be fair game.

“If I can link him to any property, I can do something about it,’’ Khatri said.

REAPING A WINDFALL

Meanwhile, Griffiths has just reaped quite a windfall from the sale of a vacant three-level commercial property at 126 Wickham St in Fortitude Valley.

The $2.7 million deal settled this month for the building, which he acquired jointly with a business partner for $1.825 million in 2014.

One of the sellers was 126 Holdings Pty Ltd, where O’Regan took over as sole director in October.

The 126 entity is owned by Olympus Capital.

The other seller was Great George Street Nominees Pty Ltd, formerly run by Griffiths’ sidekick Scott Lynch and now under external administration.

That entity is currently controlled by McGrathNicol accountants Anthony Connelly and William Harris. Notably, those gents are also the NAB-appointed receivers currently selling former Griffiths venues the Limes Hotel and Alfred & Constance bar.

An expressions of interest campaign closing April 19 has already attracted more than 170 inquiries, according to one of the agents at CBRE.

Neither O’Regan nor Griffiths returned calls seeking comment yesterday, and Lynch could not be reached.

GAMES GESTAPO

Queensland businesses looking to surf in on the Commonwealth Games need to tread carefully.

Brisbane legal eagle John Swinson tells us that a team of Games lawyers are ready to swoop if they spot any ads or marketing which improperly suggest a tie-in with the Gold Coast spectacle.

“I suspect many businesses in Queensland don’t know how strict the law is here. For example, you can’t advertise ‘Commonwealth Games Specials’ or even ‘our opening hours for the Commonwealth Games are…,’ ’’ Swinson said.

Absurd? Wait, it gets worse. Swinson said current laws probably wouldn’t even allow him to mention on his website bio that he was a volunteer usher at the 1982 Commonwealth Games!