The Urban Developer
AdvertiseEventsWebinars
Urbanity
Awards
Sign In
Membership
Latest
Menu
Location
Sector
Category
Content
Type
Newsletters
Interested in a Corporate TUD+ Membership? Access premium content, site tours, event discounts and networking opportunities
Interested in a Corporate Membership? Access exclusive member benefits today
Enquire NowEnquire
TheUrbanDeveloper
Follow
About
About Us
Membership
Awards
Events
Webinars
Listings
Partner Lab
Resources
Terms & Conditions
Commenting Policy
Privacy Policy
Republishing Guidelines
Editorial Charter
Complaints Handling Policy
Contact
General Enquiries
Advertise
Contribution Enquiry
Project Submission
Membership Enquiry
Newsletter
Stay up to date and with the latest news, projects, deals and features.
Subscribe
ADVERTISEMENT
SHARE
2
print
Print
OtherClare BurnettMon 10 Jul 23

Queensland Developer Banned Over Alleged Phoenix Activity

Farrelly Banned Director EDM

A Queensland director of five failed property and development companies has been disqualified. 

Gene Robert Farrelly was accused of phoenixing activity across several companies, falsifying financial information and paying fictitious employees.

Companies related to Farrelly owed a combined total of $20,105,830 to unsecured creditors upon liquidation, according to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.

This included about $58,741 owed to the Australian Taxation Office, it said.

Farrelly was the director of prominent south-east Queensland property development company United Project Partners Pty Ltd.

Following its liquidation in 2017, Farrelly and other directors and employees of UPP faced Brisbane Federal Court in 2020 over accusations that the company had inflated quotes to secure bank funding.

ASIC says that Farrelly subsequently transferred UPP’s business to a related entity known as Summit QLD Pty Ltd, authorising UPP to pay staff wages and support Summit when it was in financial difficulty.

This amounted to phoenix activity, said ASIC, over which there has been renewed focus this year, with suggestions it could cost billions annually.

In addition to Farrelly’s alleged business phoenixing activities, several other companies at which he was a director were named by ASIC where it was claimed he had failed to meet his obligations as a director. 

null
▲ ASIC has cracked down on failed directors this year, banning restaurateurs as well as investment and financial services directors.


Unidev Qld Pty Ltd and One Thought Pty Ltd, both thought to be involved in the southeast Queensland property development industry, while United Property Sales Pty Ltd was a real estate business.

Farrelly is said to have operated both UPP and another company, Secure Holdings Qld Pty, under a scheme that used self-managed superannuation funds for the benefit of investors in contradiction of self-managed superannuation fund regulations. 

The Queensland director was also believed to have deceived Westpac into making loans to investors using “misleading” financial information, and misused funds belonging to UPP to make payments to fictitious employees and family members, resulting in “substantial” loans being made to himself. 

Farrelly has been disqualified from managing corporations for five years, a ban that is valid until May 15, 2028, but he has the right to seek a review of ASIC’s decision by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.

ASIC is a member of the ATO-led Phoenix Taskforce, a multi-level organisation designed to combat illegal phoenix activity, and “identify, disrupt and prosecute” those who engage in or facilitate illegal phoenix activity. 

As a result of this anti-phoenix push, from the start of this year all directors of Australian companies were required to register for a Director Identification Number (DIN) or face penalties of up to $1 million.

ResidentialAustraliaPlanningReal EstateConstructionConstructionSector
AUTHOR
Clare Burnett
More articles by this author
ADVERTISEMENT
TOP STORIES
Exclusive

Brains, Guts and Determination: How Salvo Property Shapes Melbourne’s Skyline

Marisa Wikramanayake
5 Min
Fraser and Partners founder Callum Fraser
Exclusive

Saving Our CBDs: Architect’s Blueprint Paves Way for Office-to-Resi that Works

Leon Della Bosca
8 Min
Exclusive

Watchdog’s Court Loss Throws Spotlight on Union Balancing Act

Clare Burnett
6 Min
Time and Place's The Queensbridge Building at 90 Queens Bridge Street in Melbourne's Southbank.
Exclusive

Innovation Keeps Time & Place’s Southbank Skyscraper Rising

Marisa Wikramanayake
6 Min
Breathe Architecture founder Jeremy McLeod in front of his Featherweight Home design
Exclusive

Nightingale Founder’s Bid for Affordable Architectural Kit Homes

Leon Della Bosca
7 Min
View All >
West End Stockwell Vulture Street DA hero
Development

Stockwell Files Tower Plans in West End Stomping Ground

Phil Bartsch
Exclusive

Brains, Guts and Determination: How Salvo Property Shapes Melbourne’s Skyline

Marisa Wikramanayake
Westmead Gene Technologies Building EDM
Life Sciences

Plans for $272m Parramatta Biomedical Facility Go Public

Clare Burnett
The proposal for the gene therapy precinct at Westmead comes as sector investment continues to ramp up…
LATEST
West End Stockwell Vulture Street DA hero
Development

Stockwell Files Tower Plans in West End Stomping Ground

Phil Bartsch
3 Min
Exclusive

Brains, Guts and Determination: How Salvo Property Shapes Melbourne’s Skyline

Marisa Wikramanayake
5 Min
Westmead Gene Technologies Building EDM
Life Sciences

Plans for $272m Parramatta Biomedical Facility Go Public

Clare Burnett
3 Min
PBSA DA Hindmarsh Square student accomodation tower
Student Housing

Student-Friendly Adelaide Draws 35-Storey PBSA Proposal

Renee McKeown
3 Min
View All >
ADVERTISEMENT
Article originally posted at: https://theurbandeveloper.com/articles/queensland-developer-banned-over-alleged-phoenix-activity