ASIC’s Gupta case file about to get a whole lot fatter; Billionaires’ boats chase the sun

Sanjeev Gupta is in the corporate regulator’s sights. Picture: The Australian

One week after Australia’s most famous British industrialist, Sanjeev Gupta, was pinged by the corporate regulator over late accounts, Margin Call hears it is just getting started.

Three companies in Gupta’s GFG Alliance failed to lodge annual financial reports, and auditor KPMG is presumably still grappling with the process of officially signing off his accounts.

While that charade plays out in the background, we are told the Australian Securities and Investments Commission has opened a broader file on Gupta’s somewhat slimmed down empire as it examines several areas of potential misconduct.

The somewhat material matter of solvency looms as the largest issue for the former Whyalla Steelworks owner while the spotlight on related party transactions is also expected to be considered as part of any official brief.

Whyalla administrator KordaMentha in February told the Federal Court the tycoon’s accounting entanglement – which includes a plethora of service fees and inter-company charges – “made it difficult for the administrators to obtain a complete set of the books and records”.

A sale process has begun for the Whyalla Steelworks. Picture: Brett Hartwig.

The auditors of Gupta’s UK-registered companies mostly quit a few years ago, citing concerns over the industrial magnate’s failure to give them the group-wide financial information needed to work out whether they were solvent or not.

ASIC officials are understood to have been lurking at the back of KordaMentha’s ongoing meetings, keeping an eye on proceedings in the South Australian town as the slow-moving mess of rebooting the Whyalla operations works its way to the surface.

Regular briefings on Gupta’s state of affairs are understood to have been passed all the way to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s office – perhaps that’s no surprise given the combined $2.4bn taxpayer bailout with the South Australian government on the hook for the steel-working operations.

The PM certainly warmed to the protectionist theme on Friday, drawing a somewhat tenuous thread for Australia to avoid the fate of rust-belt states in the US where people feel they don’t have a stake in the system.

“What my government is laser-like focused on is making sure that people don’t feel like they’re left behind, that they don’t have that stake,” Albo told the annual Australia’s Economic Outlook event in Sydney, co-hosted by The Australian.

“That’s why my government intervenes from Whyalla to salmon. We don’t make apologies for that.”

That will be music to the ears of every manufacturer doing it tough; the last few weeks alone has seen Glencore, Tomago and Nyrstar put out the begging bowl.

The PM would appear to be in a receptive mood.

As for Gupta, his GFG declined to comment. He’s been splitting his time between his Sydney and Dubai mansions and presumably is keeping a watching brief of his own on the spectacular London legal fight between his former financier, one-time Aussie billionaire Lex Greensill, and investment fund SoftBank.

Among the recent highlights were the concern within Credit Suisse ranks over Greensill’s never ending money tap to Gupta as he sought to bulk up his global empire.

“Why is GFG back at 1bn!!!!!” was contained in one email exchange between bankers.

Distressed-debt giant Oaktree is now reportedly on hand to finance Gupta’s Tahmoor coal mine. Alarm bells and last-ditch saloon territory, surely?

Gupta may rue that Greensill’s lending largesse is now just a footnote in history.

We would all rather be in Europe with our billionaires

If it feels like half of the big hitters on the Australian corporate scene have escaped Australia’s increasingly chilly weather, it is because we’d also rather be in Europe than doing this column.

Many billionaires and other members of our 250 wealthiest citizens list we are so obsessed with, already seem to have positioned their superyachts in the Mediterranean – and are either there sunning themselves already, or are about to be.

Ian Malouf’s boat is in the Mediterranean. Picture: Ahoy Club

Take Lindsay Fox’s vessel Volpini 2, which is currently located in the French town Antibes on the Mediterranean.

Frank Lowy’s Ilona has been in the billionaire’s playground that is Monaco.

Retail billionaire Solomon Lew’s craft has been off Ischia, although that seems a bit low-rent for Solly given it is the admittedly lovely island locals flock to in order to get away from hordes of tourists on the Amalfi Coast.

Maybe Solly’s crew was just stopping off en route to Capri. Or is Portugal in his plans?

Coral Ocean, the massive 73m superyacht owned by our richest garbo, Ian Malouf, and featuring a spa pool, infra-red sauna, teppanyaki grill and on-board beauty therapist, has been off the Spanish island of Mallorca, though it may be a rental via his Ahoy Club.

Mallorca is where Queensland coal baron Matt Latimore has been, according to social media, and he has also recently spent time driving Ferraris around Seville and the south of Spain. No wonder Latimore has one million Instagram followers!

Brett Blundy’s Star Wars-themed Cloud 9 superyacht has been in Dubai where, incidentally, the likes of Aussie billionaires David Dicker, Tim Heath and Andrew Budzinski reside these days. Although Heath has been back in Estonia this week for a court case regarding his foiled kidnapping last year, where it was reported he bit one of his assailant’s finger off.

Meanwhile, stockpicker Alex Waislitz has been spotted on Instagram to be in the Swiss Alps after a stint in London – where travel baron Adam Schwab has been.

There’s at least a couple billionaires closer to home though. Or their vessels are at least.

Clive Palmer’s Australia has been anchored at Hamilton Island.

Andrew Forrest is unlikely to have been in Darwin this week. Picture: Rohan Kelly

Then there’s Andrew Forrest’s Pangaea Ocean Explorer vessel, which has been in Darwin.

Now, we’d love to think that Twiggy was in town for the recent fireworks night or Friday evening’s Top End Bull Spectacular, but it’s more likely the boat is still being used for marine park expeditions.