Director can sell mansion
Liquidation no obstacle
THE director of a failed Gold Coast butcher is selling her waterfront Palm Beach duplex for $2.45 million – and liquidators say she is free to do so.
Salt & Co Meats, which lists Palm Beach resident Samantha Williamson as sole director, was placed into liquidation in May.
The company ran the Salt & Co butcher store at Robina Town Centre but was evicted from the shop after a dispute with landlord Queensland Investment Corporation.
Ms Williamson’s husband Rhys Williamson has faced accusations he ran the company – a claim he denies.
Creditors include Tamworth-based Warmoll Foods (owed $8000), grazier Tim Somes (owed $17,300) and an electrical contractor (owed $9500).
Ms Williamson, who is also the director of another Salt & Co butcher at Westfield Coomera, has listed her Palm Beach duplex unit on Diplacus Dve for sale for $2.45 million.
The three-level property features polished concrete floors, a wine cellar, kitchen with granite benchtops and butler’s pantry, swimming pool and rooftop terrace.
However, the liquidator to Salt & Co, Jason Bettles, of Worrells, said creditors were unlikely to be able to recoup losses through the sale of the property.
Mr Bettles said Ms Williamson was free to sell the asset without restriction as it appeared she had not signed a personal guarantee with creditors. He said other ways whereby the property could be subject to creditor claims was if she had breached her duties as a director, or if the Australian Taxation Office took action, but neither of these applied in this case.
Mr Somes said Ms Williamson
must do the “right thing” and pay back creditors.
“I hope commonsense prevails and they realise they owe myself and others money and they meet their obligations with their suppliers,” he said.
The Bulletin contacted Ms Williamson and Mr Williamson for comment, but neither returned phone calls and emails.
Previously, Mr Williamson said he had offered Mr Somes a partial payment plan.
In May, Ms Williamson said her husband was by “no means an influential person within my companies, rather an employee running the frontline”.
Company documents obtained by the liquidator showed Mr Williamson signed loan documents as the owner of the company.
Besides the Diplacus Dve property, Ms Williamson is the owner of a waterfront house on Mallawa Dve with Mr Williamson.
A title search of the property, purchased for $900,000 in 2016, shows a number of caveats have been placed by creditors to Mr Williamson’s failed building company RJ Builders.
Mr Williamson’s company collapsed in July 2017 with debts worth $3.5 million. A liquidator’s report from late last year shows just $50,484 had been recovered with 11 secured creditors owed $475,000 and 99 unsecured creditors owed $3 million.