Deloitte wrangles with Nant entities

THE liquidator of Nant Distillery has spoken of the complexity in unravelling what happened at the failed whisky company.

Nant Distillery (later Naw Distillery) Pty Ltd was put into liquidation after a court application by the Australian Taxation Office, a creditor, in March.

The firm was launched by Queenslander Keith Batt, who declared bankruptcy in 2015, in 2008.

Nant has been criticised for a whisky barrel investment scheme that left investors out of pocket and is under investigation by Tasmania Police.

Nant Distillery was one of several businesses that formed the Nant group of companies, including Nant Barrel Holdings, Nant Estate, Nant Distilling Company and Nant Administration, to name a few.

A report from Deloitte, the liquidator, claims former director Mr Batt and his wife, Margaret, who is the current director, may have traded the company while insolvent.

But further investigations were needed to draw “definitive conclusions” and “insolvency would need to be determined . . . [by] a court”.

Deloitte’s Richard Hughes said the number of Nantrelated companies and other parties was a “complicating factor in our assessment”.

Mr Hughes’ report to creditors highlights a lack of cooperation on behalf of some stakeholders, which includes third parties, in providing information to assist Deloitte to untangle the web.

One option would be to haul these parties into court for a “public examination”.

However, this option needs to be shown it can benefit creditors before it is pursued.

“As our investigations progress, we’ll consider it further, probably in conjunction with a [litigation] funder,” he said.