A MAITLAND construction company that was forced into liquidation in April with debts of almost $4 million may have traded insolvent for almost four years, the company's liquidator has alleged.
A statutory report to creditors from liquidator James Shaw, of Shaw Gidley Insolvency Reconstruction, obtained by the Newcastle Herald, alleges the construction company, also known as CDF Carpentry, may have been insolvent since "June 2020, if not earlier".
Mr Shaw said the value of the "likely insolvent trading" claim was estimated at $2 million, subject to further investigations.
"My investigations suggest that the director has no personal assets available to meet a claim of this nature," he said. "Further, the director has indicated that he is considering applying for personal bankruptcy. As such, I do not propose to pursue an insolvent trading claim at this point in time."
Total debt accrued by CDF is estimated at $3.7 million, with $2.46 million owed to 63 unsecured creditors. It's understood the company was forced into liquidation by court action taken in February and April due to unpaid tax and workers compensation debts.
At the time the liquidator was appointed, CDF had minus $367 in the bank and owed more than $1.1 million in superannuation and $140,000 in unpaid wages to 19 people.
Mr Shaw said the company provided residential carpentry and building services across the Hunter.
"My investigations have identified no realisable assets and there will be no return to any class of creditor," he said.
"I will be reporting offences, including insolvent trading, that appear to have been committed by the director to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), however, I do not anticipate that they will investigate the matters further."
The sole director of CDF Constructions is Christopher Fonti, 34, of Paterson.
CDF Construction began in 2016 and was owned by Mr Fonti and his wife, Paige Fonti.
Mr Shaw said that at the time of liquidation Mr Fonti informed him that the business had no assets, because they had all been sold to pay debts. He said CDF's inventory was made up of "leftover timber, old windows, boxes of nails and old defective tools, which are of no commercial value".
Creditor Chantal Nichols, of East Maitland, found CDF last year after lodging a request on tradie booking platform hipages for a bathroom renovation quote. Ms Nichols is owed more than $28,000 that she paid to CDF, but no work was done on her bathroom.
"I'm just paying back a $30,000 loan and I had to replace all the locks on my house because they had my house keys," she said.
"They did absolutely no work. It's not like they started and stopped, they didn't do anything. They just took my money."
Ms Nichols said a CDF representative picked up the keys to her house in March and she went on holidays expecting to return to find the bathroom renovation underway.
When she got back on April 4 the bathroom remained untouched. The liquidator was appointed on April 24. "They would have known they were in trouble at the stage they took my money," she said. "I blindly trusted them because they were nice, lesson learnt."
The Herald was unable to contact Mr Fonti.
- Do know more? Donna.page@newcastleherald.com.au
