By Cam Lucadou-Wells
FORMER employees of collapsed builder Botanic Homes will qualify for Federal compensation … but its long list of unsecured customers and contractors may not be so lucky.
Creditors voted to wind up the company at a meeting on 25 August, with “bits and pieces” of its plant equipment and intellectual property still to be liquidated, administrator Jason Stone of PKF Melbourne said.
Botanic Homes owed up to $5 million to 250 creditors including customers and tradies.
One tradie told Star News he was owed $200,000 and had been assured of the company’s financial viability up to the day it folded.
He remains unpaid for “big jobs” in April and May while – unknown to him – Botanic Homes was meeting with PKF about “insolvency options”.
He held little hope of recovering the debt.
A customer, who doesn’t wish to be named, said the building of their dream home began in March after they bought land in Cloverlea Estate, Chirnside Park, two years ago.
In early May, Botanic Homes went into voluntary receivership.
She said she was annoyed that despite the builder’s financial woes it still “took our hefty deposit and continued on business as usual”.
“It makes me think there is little to no money left to be returned to creditors.”
Mr Stone said ex-staff would however have their entitlements paid out under the Federal Government’s General Employee Entitlements and Redundancy Scheme (GEERS).
The scheme would be invoked due to Botanic having not enough assets to fund their payouts “in the short term”.
PKF will further investigate if there were any recoverable transactions and whether to take action against directors Robert Bender and Craig Garvey.
“We don’t have any control over the directors’ assets but the secured creditors have taken action against them.
“I believe most of the directors’ property has been sold and settled, and (those) creditors got some money.”
Mr Stone said there was a “little period” of insolvent trading before PKF’s appointment on 3 May.
PKF can prosecute the directors to claim any new debts incurred while trading insolvent.
“We need to conduct investigations as to whether there’s any commercial benefit in pursuing a claim,” Mr Stone said.
“If directors’ other assets have been secured by other creditors, it might be no good making a claim that won’t recover any funds.”
