BDO appointed liquidator in messy financial services case

BDO’s Andrew Fielding and Matthew Joiner will oversee the case involving Ben Jayaweera and Growth Plus Financial Group, who faced the Supreme Court of Queensland after the ATO wound up the group earlier this year.

ASIC is seeking declarations that Growth Plus is the trustee of the Australian Diversified Sector Income Fund (ADSIF) and that in issuing units in the ADSIF Mr Jayaweera knowingly contravened the Corporations Act.

Growth Plus was operating as an unregistered managed investment scheme before its liquidation in March, with its underlying asset an abalone farm in South Australia, according to ASIC.

The court ordered that certain books and records obtained by ASIC can be provided to the group at the request of the liquidators.

It issued several interim injunctions ordering that Mr Jayaweera be restrained from carrying on financial services business without an AFS licence, and be restrained from managing, directing, controlling or operating the ADSIF or selling any of its property.

ASIC will seek further injunctions when the matter resumes on 17 October.