Alex Dekker wants answers, and at the moment, he's got none.
In August 2022, he loaned $500,000 to Merewether-based non-bank lender Funda's holding company Collaborating.
The money was to be used by Funda, also known as Ownright Pty Ltd, to provide loans to small businesses and he would be paid 11 per cent interest each year.
Mr Dekker, a Sydney-based landscaper, hoped the income stream would be enough to allow him to cut his hours back at work after spending 25 years building his small business.
What he didn't know at the time was Funda was in dire financial trouble and on the brink of collapse.
A few weeks before he loaned the $500,000, the company's directors, Nathan Wright and Mark Owen, were in talks with other lenders about Funda and Collaborating's rapidly declining financial position.
Mr Wright had written to major individual lenders the previous month telling them Funda had been "facing heavy head winds for quite some time now".
In the July 2022 email to the companies largest creditors, Merewether residents Don and Janine McLachlan, owed $3.6 million, Mr Wright detailed the group's precarious financial position.
"With a combination of the last couple of years COVID-related impacts and legacy bad dealings from many years ago, our debt to equity, not to mention profitability, is upside down," Mr Wright wrote.
"We have worked towards many options to move forward, as it is the only way out, but come up with nothing suitable as yet ..."
Mr Wright went on to propose that lenders consider converting some of their debt to equity or reduce the interest payments they were receiving to keep Funda operating so the directors could work towards a merger or sale.
A few weeks after the email, Mr Dekker - completely unaware of the financial crisis - signed on to loan Collaborating $500,000.
'They knew they were a sinking ship'
Seven months later, the directors informed Mr Dekker and the other lenders, that they could no longer make interest payments, and in December they placed both companies in voluntary liquidation.
"They already knew they were a sinking ship," Mr Dekker said.
"But they just took my half-a-million-dollars without saying a word and now it's gone. I want to know what they did with it. I want answers. I was the last person to put money in and I want to know if it was simply used to pay interest to other lenders."
Earlier this month, liquidator Bradd Morelli, of Jirsch Sutherland, detailed how the companies may have been trading whilst insolvent for years before their collapse. Funda since mid-2019 and Collaborating since mid- 2020.
According to Mr Morelli's report, at the time Mr Dekker loaned the money to Collaborating, Funda was already carrying accumulated debts of $4.583 million, which had been rising since 2018 and eventually caused the collapse of both companies.
His report also draws into question allegations raised by creditors that the business was operating as a ponzi scheme. It's an allegation that has been strenuously denied by the directors.
A ponzi scheme draws on money from investors to pay interest, and collapses when the flow of funds dries up or its operators spend the money too quickly.
Mr Morelli highlighted $3.49 million that was loaned by creditors to Collaborating between November 2018 and August 2022.
Of this, he said $1.232 million, or more than a third of the money invested by people and their super funds, was used to pay interest payments on loans.
Less than half of the money invested, or $1.677 million, was given to Funda to be used for small business loans, and the rest, or $580,000, went to paying out loans.
"Whilst our detailed review has identified transactions which may have the characteristics of same [a ponzi scheme], taken overall, further detailed investigation is required," he said.
"I have raised this allegation with the directors, who strenuously refuse same. Given the seriousness of the allegation, further investigation is warranted with possible reporting to statutory bodies where necessary."
Mr Morelli said he was concerned investor funds were used "to pay interest amounts due to existing creditors rather than utilising revenue generated in Ownright [Funda]".
Ponzi scheme claim 'entirely unfounded'
Mr Wright dismissed concerns about a possible ponzi scheme, describing the allegation as "entirely unfounded and without merit".
"Mr Dekker's investment, like all funds received by the company, was to support our ongoing operations and business endeavours lending to our clients," he said.
"Regarding the use of funds for interest payments to other lenders this was not the case or intended purpose."
Mr Owen has also "strenuously denied" the businesses operated as a ponzi scheme and said he supported "any investigation required to clear these allegations".
According to Mr Wright, when Mr Dekker loaned the $500,000 the focus "remained on building the business".
"We were still committed to moving forward and did not foresee the situation escalating to its current state," he said.
Mr Wright also dismissed allegations raised in the liquidator's report that the businesses may have traded whilst insolvent for years.
He described the allegation as "not supported by the findings of the liquidator's report".
"Furthermore, our external accountants in the preparation of the annual statutory accounts at no time indicated either company was or could be insolvent during this time," he said.
But according to Mr Morelli, Funda accumulated losses every year dating back to June 2018 when it recorded a loss of $317,165. The losses continued to grow annually until the debt reached $6.513 million in June 2023.
When it was placed in liquidation, Collaborating owed $10.5 million to 25 creditors.
Mr Morelli said it was possible that Collaborating was insolvent since March 2020, triggered by notices to repay $3.6 million to the McLachlans.
But the directors dispute this date, saying a new agreement was put in place to continue the loan.
"Based on creditors' claims to date and the company's books and records, it is estimated that the quantum of an insolvent trading claim may be in the vicinity of $2.45 million," the liquidator's report reads in relation to Collaborating.
Calls for full investigation
Mr Dekker is now demanding to know exactly what happened to his $500,000 when it was deposited into Collaborating's bank account in August 2022.
After months of getting no answers he's had a gutful.
He, along with other creditors, want a full investigation into allegations that the business operated as a ponzi scheme.
"Did they take my $500,000 and simply use it to pay interest to everyone else?" Mr Dekker asked.
"The books and records surely must show how it was used."
Both directors blame the demise of the companies on the pandemic and said the business-focused, non-bank lending sector was struggling, including many of Funda's competitors.
They have both denied any wrongdoing.
Mr Wright said the directors "communicated openly with all stakeholders when we clearly identified the potential issues coming in the future and we explored all available options with the creditors to mitigate financial difficulties we faced".
Mr Dekker strongly disagrees, saying he never would have loaned his $500,000 if he'd been told of the financial struggles facing the companies.
His plan to cut back on work has disappeared along with his $500,000, and he's been seeing a counsellor to help with the stress.
A few years before, following a recommendation from his Newcastle-based accountant, he'd loaned Funda $250,000.
After receiving interest payments for a year and then getting his money back, he thought it fairly safe to do it again.
"I was only going to do it for another year or so," he said. "It's a huge loss, I honestly can't believe it.
"I'm getting older and it's really physical work, my plan was to try and step back and live more of a comfortable life.
"I've worked very hard for it and now I am left feeling like I was taken advantage of.
"I was the last person to put money in, and it was already a sinking ship."
