TINKLER COPS ASIC BAN FROM RUNNING COMPANIES
BANKRUPT former coal baron Nathan Tinkler and two of his closest business allies have been banned from managing a company for at least three years for their roles in the collapse of several businesses.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has disqualified Mr Tinkler and Troy Palmer, the former chief executive of Mr Tinkler’s Hunter Sports Group, from management for three years and nine months.
Mr Tinkler’s sister Donna Dennis has been disqualified for three years. All three committed multiple serious failures as directors of companies that fell into liquidation, including the Tinkler Group, the Patinack Farm thoroughbred business, Mulsanne Resources and the Newcastle Jets Football Operations, ASIC said.
They failed to prevent companies from trading while insolvent, failed to ensure companies paid their taxes, and allowed one of the companies to deliberately operate at a loss, the regulator said.
“The disqualifications imposed on these directors should highlight the consequences that can follow when companies are poorly managed,” ASIC Commissioner John Price said.
Once Australia’s youngest billionaire, Mr Tinkler’s fortune was savaged by a slump in coal prices and he was declared bankrupt in March 2016. At the height of his wealth, Mr Tinkler became one of the biggest buyers of racehorses in the industry, and briefly owned the Newcastle Jets A-League club and Newcastle Knights NRL club.