WA man jailed for hiding assets in bankruptcy

Magistrate Urquhart released Machin on a $1,000 recognisance release order, with the condition that he be of good behaviour for 12 months.

Machin became bankrupt in April 2021 by way of a debtor’s petition, and registered trustees were appointed to administer his bankrupt estate.

On 30 December 2021 – approximately six months into his bankruptcy – a grant of probate was issued naming Machin as both executor and beneficiary of a will. He was entitled to receive $124,780, but failed to disclose receipt of this property to his trustee.

Machin transferred this inheritance into a bank account held in the name of a family member, for which he was a co-signatory. Between 1 February 2022 and 27 April 2022, Mr Machin transferred a total of $84,700 from that account into other bank accounts.

The court heard that a significant amount of time had passed between Machin receiving and dealing with the funds and notifying the registered trustee; the amount of money involved in the offending was substantial. Machin’s self-reported motivation for offending was to repay loan sharks.

AFSA chief executive Tim Beresford said the sentence acted as a deterrence to calculated conduct that undermines confidence in Australia’s personal insolvency system.

"AFSA continues to prioritise harms-based enforcement where deliberate misuse of the system is evident," he added. 

This matter was prosecuted by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions following an investigation and referral by AFSA.