With Westpac under the pump, a bunch of its Brisbane staff have jetted off for a luxury getaway

Top Brisbane bank executives have jetted off to the Margaret River for a five-star luxury getaway despite a bombshell scandal this week.

WESTPAC GETAWAY

Well, this is just not a good look.

With Westpac under the pump over its outrageous alleged breaches of money-laundering and counter-terrorism laws, a bunch of the bank’s executives from Brisbane have jetted off for a luxury getaway in the Margaret River wine country.

The group flew in to Perth this week, where they are chilling out at the five-star Pullman Bunker Bay Resort, which claims to be the region’s “premier beachfront’’ accommodation.

They have also indulged in plenty of fine food and drink at Wise Wines near Dunsborough.

A Westpac spin doctor confirmed details of the junket yesterday but would not disclose how many went on the trip or how much it cost.

Westpac executives have jetted off to the Margaret River in the wake of the scandal

“As part of an employee recognition program, a number of Westpac Group staff travelled to Western Australia for three days to engage in training and development workshops and team building activities,’’ he said.

Yeah sure. Because you couldn’t possibly do the workshops or team building in Brisbane, right?

Granted that this little holiday-dressed-up-as-work was probably booked a while ago, it could hardly be more tone-deaf in the current environment where Westpac is now facing potential fines of up to $1 billion for its alleged transgressions.

Meanwhile, the Australian Shareholders’ Association said yesterday that it was “horrified” by the alleged reporting breaches uncovered by Austrac and the implication of those failures.

“ASA wants to know the board’s response as a matter of urgency and we will determine our actions when we have information. We will be meeting with Westpac Chair Lindsay Maxsted next week and will discover more,’’ the group said.

SIGN OF TROUBLE

His Brisbane company has produced digital signage and interactive advertising for some of Australia top retail brands.

Among them are Boost Juice, Bupa, David Jones, RACQ, Michael Hill jewellers, Sportsgirl and Lorna Jane.

But a cash squeeze forced entrepreneur Yazz Krishna to tip his company Five Faces Pty Ltd into administration this week.

Administrator Darryl Kirk from Cor Cordis told us yesterday that the firm will keep trading and be put up for sale, with valuable intellectual property as one of the drawcards.

He said it faced the prospect of running out of money over the holidays and new year period and was likely to have become insolvent if no action had been taken.

Entrepreneur Yazz Krishna to tip his company Five Faces Pty Ltd into administration.

While it was too early to wheel out precise figures, Kirk estimated that between 25 and 50 unsecured creditors are owed anywhere from $500,000 to $1 million.

In a sign of trouble earlier this month, three directors quit, leaving Krishna as the sole director and CEO.

He remains the biggest single stakeholder, controlling 41 percent of the company. Start-up funder Brisbane Angels, using money from sophisticated investors, owns $200,000 worth of redeemable preference shares.

Krishna, a 35-year-old native of the Caribbean, did not return a call seeking comment yesterday.

He launched the Darra-based firm about 10 years ago and it had grown to have a national presence, as well as a foothold in New Zealand and Canada.

The products he offered clients included customised news content for in-store displays and a “digital mirror’’ that allowed clients to visual themselves in a new outfit while shopping at clothing outlets.

WHACK A BALL

Plenty of corporate types will be among the crowd of up to 2000 converging on Dorington Park in Brisbane on Saturday to watch blokes on horseback whack a few balls.

The likes of CBRE, CFMG Capital, GCU, Hutchinson Builders, PwC and Urbis have all snared private marquees, where they’ll knock back champers and canapes while taking in this year’s Land Rover Polo in the City.

The urban version of the ancient game will see Mexican young gun Mariano “Nano’’ Gracida lead Team Hawaii against the Aussies.

His late father, Carlos Gracido, was a legend of the sport and once played for Kerry Packer’s Ellerston team. He also played alongside Prince Charles and coached his boys, William and Harry.