Recruitment firm joins tax office in Federal Court wind-up bid for Brisbane Roar Football Club

Brisbane Roar Football Club, already facing a tax-office wind-up, is under new pressure, with the recruitment firm that headhunted the club’s senior executives joining a bid to shut the club down.

Brisbane Roar COO Zac Anderson and Kaz Patafta.

Brisbane Roar Football Club, already facing a tax-office wind-up, is under new pressure, with the recruitment firm that headhunted the club’s senior executives pursuing the organisation for allegedly unpaid fees.

Michael Pulford, founder of Gold Coast recruitment firm Trend Personnel, claims he facilitated the 2023 appointment of both CEO Kaz Patafta and COO Zac Anderson – but the club has refused to pay his invoice.

The tax office launched wind-up proceedings against BRFC in May, with Mr Patafta saying at the time it involved “historical debt” that the club planned “to resolve imminently”.

However, the matter was yet to be resolved by Thursday morning, with the case scheduled for hearing on Friday.

The hearing was expected to be adjourned for two weeks to July 18.

In a statement late on Thursday, Mr Patafta said “the matter with the Australian Taxation Office will come to a conclusion in the coming days with the debt to be cleared in full”.

“I want to sincerely thank our loyal members and fans who continue to stand by the club,” he said.

“The matter has taken longer than expected due to the historical debt accruing under the previous management team at the club, and we are pleased it is about to be behind us.

“As we turn the page, the focus is firmly on the upcoming season.”

If the debt is cleared, the club still faces action from Gold Coast company Trend Personnel, which joined the Federal Court wind-up as a supporting creditor and is also chasing the alleged debt in the Brisbane Magistrates Court.

Managing director Mr Pulford said the Roar’s business practices had been “totally unacceptable”.

“I’m a one-man business and it’s absolutely disgraceful that a sporting organisation of their standing doesn’t pay for services provided,” he said.

“I’ve never had this issue in 30 years in recruitment – you facilitate someone getting their dream job and you get screwed.”

Brisbane Roar chief operations officer Zac Anderson with chairman and CEO Kaz Patafta. Picture: Brisbane Roar

Mr Pulford, a volunteer surf lifesaver who once ran for a seat on the Gold Coast Council, said he’d earlier recruited an accountant for the club, which had paid his recruitment fee straight away.

“They gave me the accountant recruitment job and the CEO job at the same time,” he said.

In documents lodged in the magistrates court case, BRFC concedes the appointment of the executives came about after Mr Pulford’s approaches to Mr Patafta and Mr Anderson, but denies it’s liable to pay the recruitment fee as they didn’t directly appoint Trend Personnel.

The club’s defence said the recruitment fee for the accountant’s role was paid by the accountant herself, without the knowledge of the club, and that she resigned shortly after.

Mr Pulford found a replacement for the accountant without charging an additional fee.

The club’s key defence argument centres around accountant Damien Moffrey, who is also a defendant in the case and worked with Mr Pulford during the club’s recruitment process.

BRFC maintains in its defence that Mr Moffrey was not acting on behalf of the club, but on behalf of Cronus Sports Management – a subsidiary of Roar’s Indonesian owners Bakrie Group.

Michael Pulford.

In his defence Mr Moffrey also submitted that he was working as an agent for Cronus, court documents show.

Mr Pulford said he was told his search for the new CEO had to be undertaken behind the scenes.

“It was a highly confidential role, I couldn’t advertise, I had to use my previous contacts,” he said.

Those contacts came through, leading Mr Pulford to approach former Gold Coast United player Mr Anderson and lawyer and subsequently former player Mr Patafta.

Mr Pulford said the men were “intent on me getting them in there and I put them forward as a package deal”.

“We worked out a lower salary to get both candidates over the line,” he said.

Mr Pulford said his fee consisted of a set percentage of the annual salary of the new recruits and that he had given the club a discounted invoice, based on discussions that Mr Patafta would be paid $180,000 and Mr Anderson $150,000.

Brisbane Roar’s crest.

The club failed to pay the invoice and Mr Pulford claims he later discovered higher pay packets – of $266,000 and $188,000 respectively – had been negotiated, so sent a new invoice, based on the higher salaries and without the discounted rate.

Trend Personnel is seeking $80,000 in damages in the magistrates court case.

The club did not answer questions about its general financial status on Wednesday, saying it intended to release an unspecified statement to all media later on Thursday.

“We are aware of ongoing proceedings currently before the Magistrates’ Court involving a claim brought by Trend Personnel,” it said in a statement.

“Brisbane Roar is defending that proceeding with the matter relating to a disputed and unproven amount, and remains the subject of active legal proceedings.”

Bakrie Group, which also has interests in media and mining, has owned 100 per cent of BRFC since 2012 via Indonesian holding company Pelita Jaya Cronus.

A 2021 investigation by ABC’s Four Corners revealed a then-director of the holding company, Joko Driyano, had previously been imprisoned for 18 months for his involvement in an Indonesian football match-fixing scandal.

Driyano was convicted of telling his personal driver to remove a computer and documents relating to the investigation from his office.

Originally published as Recruitment firm joins tax office in Federal Court wind-up bid for Brisbane Roar Football Club