Businesses owned by Chris Anderson, Kevin Moore go bust
Three recruitment firms owned and operated by Bulldogs’ legends Chris Anderson and Kevin Moore that specialise in sponsoring workers on 457 visas have gone bust owing millions to creditors. READ CHRIS ANDERSON’S STATEMENT
NSW
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Rugby League legend Chris Anderson has stood down from the Canterbury Bulldogs board following the collapse of three businesses owing millions of dollars and a personal tax penalty of $1.4 million.
Anderson, who won premierships as a player and coach of the Bulldogs, served as the director of the three labour-hire companies alongside fellow ex-Bulldogs coach and player Kevin Moore, the son of the late club patriarch Peter Moore.
But all three have been placed into liquidation owing millions, and liquidators have not been able to find records relating to skilled workers on 457 visas who were sponsored to stay in Australia.
Liquidators have submitted a confidential report to authorities recommending legal action be taken against unnamed employees of the company.
Anderson claimed yesterday his business had fallen victim to a “sophisticated scam” and he was preparing to pursue the perpetrators in the NSW Supreme Court.
“The sad fact is we put our faith and trust in a few people within and outside the business who, it now seems clear, were acting for their own benefit,” Anderson said. “Unfortunately by the time we discovered the truth it was too late to save the business.”
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The 67-year-old former coach said he and Mr Moore were not the subject of the liquidator’s report forwarded to authorities.
“The liquidators have confirmed that I and other directors are not the primary source of its investigation,” he said.
Anderson stood down from the Bulldog’s board two weeks after the Sunday Telegraph began investigating his role in the collapse of his businesses.
Asked if he was pushed from the position, Anderson said: “No, not at all.”
He said he was forced to step down to focus his attention on his ailing businesses.
“I was busy trying to rebuild the company,” he said. “We’re going through the right channels to sort this out.”
Anderson lives in a $3.5 million beachfront home at Cronulla Beach, which records say is owned by his wife Lynne, who is chairman of the Bulldogs and CEO of the Australian Para Olympics, as well as being the sister of Mr Moore.
According to company documents filed with ASIC the three stricken companies are Anderson Recruitment and Training, ART Labour Hire and AM Labour Hire, which liquidators reports said collapsed with debts of $4 million, $2 million and $5 million respectively.
Anderson declined to comment on whether the debts overlapped between companies.
“It’s in the hands of liquidators, mate, I can’t be discussing that,” he said.
However, he said the financial issues were in the process of being settled.
“I’ve been advised the remaining unsecured creditors are just me and the ATO, and we are challenging the basis on which the tax fees are being sought.”
Moore could not be reached on Friday.
According to the Anderson Recruitment and Training website, Anderson established the operation in 2009 with 53-year-old Moore. This was two years after his last NRL head coach position with the Roosters and a decade after he steered Melbourne Storm to its maiden premiership win.
Based in Liverpool, in Sydney’s southwest, the company was a labour hire operator that specialised in sponsoring foreigners with 457 visas, which are issued to skilled workers, who were then outsourced to a range of industries, including building and construction.
But there are now questions about how many visa holders the company employed, with liquidators unable to find records relating to them when they took control of the business on June 11.
Just last year the business appeared to be thriving with five offices including Sydney, Brisbane and Victoria.
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Its website boasted the company was the winner of the 2018 Local Business Awards Professional Services category, while Mr Moore was a finalist in the Business Person of the Year category.
But just over a year later a different picture has emerged. The liquidators report produced for Anderson Recruitment and Training showed the company was in financial disaster.
The report, circulated on September 11, said the company owed more than $4.2 million to a range of creditors.
Riad Tayeh of firm dVT Group, the liquidator who wrote the report, said in the document he did not believe any money would be recovered to repay the creditors.
“Based on the recoveries made to date, there are insufficient funds to pay a distribution to any class of creditors,” Mr Tayeh wrote.
The report also said the company had been referred for investigation by corporate regulator ASIC.
“The offences committed will be disclosed in our confidential report to ASIC,” the report said.
One of the biggest problems for the liquidators was getting hold of the company’s books and financial records.
After being denied access to records on the company’s IT provider, the liquidator’s report said it called in “assistance” from ASIC, which gave a July 8 deadline to hand over the information.
Earlier in the report, Mr Tayeh noted a “considerable lack of books and records” relating to money owed to the company and “accordingly, there was no certainty as to the recoverability of these debtors”.
It was a similar story for the company’s records relating to the 457 visa holders it managed, and the liquidators said in the report that they “notified the Australian Taxation Office and Border Force Australia”of their difficulties.
“The lack of records to date have not allowed us to determine the exact number of employees currently sponsored by the company,” the report said. “We have been advised there may be up to 200 individuals sponsored by the company.”
An unknown number of the visa workers claimed they were owed $273,229 in unpaid wages, the report said.
The liquidators were also appointed to a second associated company run by Anderson and Moore registered at the same Liverpool office, known as Art Labour Hire, which ASIC documents said owed more than $2 million to creditors.
This came on the same day as their appointment to Anderson Recruitment and Training. The matter has been referred to ASIC and the ATO.
However, the liquidation of a third company, AM Labour Hire, which began in July last year, targeted Anderson and Moore personally.
According to the liquidator’s report filed with ASIC last December the company owed creditors $5.3 million and “experienced pressure from the ATO”, which was owed $3.4 million.
The report raised concerns about allegations of insolvent trading by Anderson and Moore to the value of $3.7 million.
“We issued a demand to the directors requesting payment of the balance and received a response from the directors solicitors disputing the claim,” the report said.
Asked if the claim was still in dispute, Anderson said: “No comment”.
The report also said Anderson had been slapped with a director penalty notice by the ATO that “resulted in him being personally liable” for $1.4 million.
Asked if he paid the amount or if it was still in dispute, Anderson replied: “You would have to talk to the lawyer about that.”
He declined to provide the name or details of the lawyer.
Liquidators for Art Labour Hire and AM Labour Hire said in their reports it was uncertain if any money will be paid to creditors.
The next creditors meeting for Anderson Recruitment and Training and Art Labour Hire will be held tomorrow at dVT’s Parramatta Office.
Calls to Mr Tayeh were not returned.
Originally published as Businesses owned by Chris Anderson, Kevin Moore go bust