On 17 August 2022, Peter Neil Landau, of Claremont, Western Australia, pleaded guilty in the Stirling Gardens Magistrates Court to nine charges following ASIC’s investigations into former ASX-listed companies, Citation Resources Limited (Citation) and Continental Coal Limited (in liquidation).
Mr Landau, the former director of Citation and Continental Coal, has pleaded guilty and will be sentenced in the Supreme Court of Western Australia on 31 January 2023 to:
- five counts of stealing as a director. Between June 2015 and February 2016, he stole approximately $2.2 million of applicant funds from a Citation bank account. Mr Landau did this without the knowledge of Citation’s other directors and went on to use the funds for his own benefit, the benefit of other related entities and to repay Continental Coal investors;
- one count of forging and uttering a bank statement that falsely showed $675,658 in a Citation bank account when there was only $117.55 in the account;
- one count of providing false documents to ASIC stating Continental Coal had received $2.6m from investors when they had only received approximately $57,000; and
- one count of authorising the giving of false or misleading information to the ASX, where Continental Coal failed to disclose its only income-generating asset had gone into administration and another statement that said assets had been sold, when they had not.
Mr Landau also pleaded guilty to one count of failing to hold applicant money on trust after he transferred $1,032,000 from a Continental Coal trust into other various bank accounts prior to securities being issued or the money being returned to the applicants. Mr Landau will be sentenced to this charge in the Magistrates Court on 7 February 2023.
The matter is being prosecuted by the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions.
Background
Mr Landau was charged with the stealing offences on 13 March 2020 (20-061MR). ASIC continued to investigate the affairs of Citation and Continental Coal which led to the laying of further charges, which included false statements to the ASX, on 28 August 2020 (20-201MR).
ASIC’s investigation was assisted by the receipt of a comprehensive report prepared by Continental Coal’s liquidator, Robert Kirman of McGrathNicol. ASIC assisted the liquidator to investigate and report their findings by providing funding from the Assetless Administration Fund.
Editor's note 1:
The matter has been listed for sentencing on 20 and 27 June 2023.
Editor's note 2:
The sentencing dates listed in Editor's note 1 have been vacated and relisted to 20 June 2023 in the Supreme Court of Western Australia and 3 July 2023 in the Perth Magistrates' Court.
Editor's note 3:
On 1 December 2023, the matter was heard for sentencing at the Supreme Court of Western Australia. The matter was adjourned to 8 December 2023 for sentencing remarks and for a sentence to be imposed.