A federal court judge has been left baffled over the limited information from the liquidators of Michael Dunjey’s company assets, allegedly valued in the millions of dollars.
A federal court judge has been left baffled over the limited information from the liquidators of Michael Dunjey’s company assets, allegedly valued in the millions of dollars.
The Federal Court of Australia ordered Ascent Investment and Coaching be wound up in April, after finding it was likely that its director, Mr Dunjey, and the company have operated a Ponzi scheme.
Deloitte partners Matthew Donnelly and Sean Holmes were appointed as liquidators to Ascent.
The pair have filed affidavits about a related entity, Dunjey Property, to the Federal Court of Australia's Western Australian registry.
However, Federal Court judge Darren Jackson has picked apart the affidavits filed by the liquidators, during a court hearing today.
Justice Jackson told the court that the affidavits contained nothing beyond the liquidators’ own assertions about the assets.
“To be frank, I even came away from the affidavit unaware of what this company has been doing,” he said.
“They were investing funds – whose funds? I don’t know.
"I was even scratching my head at what these companies actually do.
“The court is not going to act as a rubber stamp on the opinion of the liquidators.
“The records aren’t great, and I can’t find a lot. I’m not asking for hundreds of pages more of evidence, I just want more than your client’s assertion.”
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission launched an investigation into Ascent and Mr Dunjey, claiming the company owed about $145 million to clients.
In June 2022, Mr Dunjey declared himself bankrupt and appointed Hall Chadwick partner John Shanahan as trustee over his estate.
Justice Jackson also found a big discrepancy in the valuation of Dunjey Property's assets in the liquidators’ affidavits.
“Assets of the company has a value of approximately $6.5 million but if you add up the total assets … it’s more,” he said in court.
Justice Jackson ordered the liquidators to file more affidavits within 21 days.
Federal Court judge Michael Feutrill ordered Ascent be wound up earlier this year.
In his judgment, Justice Feutrill found it was likely a significant portion of the funds from investors were used by Mr Dunjey or his related entities for his own benefit.
