Barbera patriarch declared bankrupt as liquidators circle

The head of a major Bundaberg farming group has been declared bankrupt two years after the collapse of several of his companies owing an estimated $80 million.

The head of a major Bundaberg farming group has been declared bankrupt two years after the collapse of several of his companies owing an estimated $80 million.

Guy Barbera, who headed the Barbera family farming empire for years, was made a bankrupt in the Federal Circuit Court in March following an application by several creditors including the liquidator of one of the failed companies.

The Barbera family have been farming zucchinis, capsicums and tomatoes in the region for almost 50 years and at one stage employed hundreds of workers across the state’s salad bowl.

The bankruptcy comes as liquidators of other failed companies in the Barbera group including Barbera Fresh and Barbera Farms prepare to launch a public examination in the Federal Court of Mr Barbera amid allegations of “phoenix” transactions.

In a report lodged with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), Barbera Fresh liquidator Moira Carter, of BRI Ferrier, said there was “little doubt” the sale of the company’s business in March 2017 to Barbera Farms was a phoenix transaction.

In the publicly-available report, Ms Carter said the sale agreement with Barbera Farms purported to sell fertiliser, stakes and seeds but excluded the crop being grown at the time.

Guy Barbera.

“I am in possession of documents that indicate that the proceeds from the sale of the crop may have been diverted from the company via ‘marketing deeds’ and a ‘produce agreement’ to the secured lender of a related entity,” Ms Carter wrote in the report.

She said the public examination would possibly obtain evidence to pursue a claim against the directors of the company along with its lawyers and accountants.

Mr Barbera denied the allegations and said he and his family members had acted properly in relation to the sale and other operations of the business.

“We did nothing wrong,” said Mr Barbera, who was contacted by the Australian Business Network at the office of Bundaberg-based M & R Farms.

M & R Farms is controlled by a company called Barbera Family Holdings, whose director is Mr Barbera’s race car driving son Mason.

Mr Barbera said he was aware he may have to attend a public examination into the affairs of his various companies but denied all wrong doing.

Ms Carter said a brief had been provided to ASIC on the affairs of Barbera Fresh but it had declined to take any action with the exception of a possible director banning of Mr Barbera.

An ASIC spokesperson said liquidators were required to report suspected contraventions of the Corporations Act to the regulator, which were then assessed for further investigation.

The spokesperson she could not confirm whether the regulator had received a report in relation to Barbera Fresh “or whether we have declined to take further action.”

“For context, we received 8,040 (liquidator) reports in the 2019-2020 financial year, with 7,163 alleging offences. Of those alleging offences, we requested supplementary reports from external administrators in 1,070 instances or 15 per cent,” she said.

Worrells insolvency practitioner John Goggin, who is the liquidator of another group company, Barbera Transport, was a supporting creditor in the bankruptcy action and said he would be seeking the repayment of half a million dollars from Mr Barbera’s bankruptcy trustee.

--With reporting by Darren Cartwright