Rachel Edwards of Werribee, Victoria, has appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court charged with four counts of breaching her directors’ duties.

Ms Edwards was the former sole director of employment agency Westpower Victoria Pty Ltd ACN 135 293 873 (In Liquidation) (Westpower).

ASIC alleges that between 15 January 2010 and 23 September 2011, Ms Edwards made 175 withdrawals totalling $619,897.71 from a bank account of Westpower and deposited the funds into a personal account.

When Westpower went into liquidation on 5 January 2012, the company had debts totalling more than $930,000 owed to the Australian Taxation Office, State Revenue Office Victoria and CGU Insurance.

ASIC assisted the liquidator of Westpower, Paul Vartelas of B.K. Taylor & Co., to prepare a supplementary report with funding from the Assetless Administration Fund.

The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions is prosecuting the matter following a referral from ASIC.

The matter was mentioned before the Court on 9 April 2021 and adjourned for further committal mention on 11 June 2021.

Background

A director commits an offence under the Corporations Act if they are reckless or dishonest. Ms Edwards was charged with four counts of contravening s184 of the Act.

At the time of the alleged offending, the maximum penalty for a breach of s184 of the Act is 2000 penalty units or imprisonment for five years, or both.

Editor’s note:

The matter was mentioned in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on 11 June 2021. As agreed between the parties, three of four charges were withdrawn. Ms Edwards plead guilty to one charge of contravening s184 of the Corporations Act. She was released on conditional bail. Ms Edwards was committed to the County Court at Melbourne to appear for a plea hearing on 24 January 2022.