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Former registered liquidator and external administrator Peter Andrew Amos, whose 17-year career in the industry came to an end last year, has been sentenced to four years imprisonment for misappropriating funds from five companies over a six-year period.
Amos, who owned and operated Amos Insolvency, was sentenced after being found guilty of dishonestly using his position to gain advantage for himself and his business.
He has been slapped with a non-parole period of two years after NSW District Court Judge Tupman described the offending as a “significant breach of trust”.
Amos first appeared in the Downing Centre Local Court on 17 June 2024, charged with four offences of dishonestly using his position as an officer of a company to gain an advantage for his business and himself. A further two offences were included on a schedule to be taken into account by the court on sentence.
During the sentencing hearing, the court heard that from 6 October 2016 to 31 December 2022, Amos transferred $2.99 million, plus $19.93 million for the scheduled offences, from the accounts of Mikcon Employment Services, TPC (Vic) Pty Ltd, POW 4X4 Pty Ltd, A-Force Electrics and Conomi Group to Amos Insolvency.
Amos was the appointed external administrator or liquidator of these companies and, when transferred, the funds were used to pay unrelated expenses of Amos Insolvency and for Amos’ personal purposes.
Amos was appointed as voluntary administrator and later as administrator of a deed of company arrangement for Mikcon, TPC and Conomi. He was appointed as the liquidator of POW and A-Force with all of these positions rendering him an officer of the companies.
The court heard that Amos and his company were not entitled to the funds received, as all approved remuneration for Amos in the administrations had been paid, and no additional remuneration determinations had been made by the creditors of the companies.
“Mr Amos systematically misappropriated funds across five companies over a six-year period, amounting to a serious betrayal of trust and an abuse of the obligations expected of administrators and liquidators,” says Sarah Court, the deputy chair of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
“This sentence demonstrates that such behaviour will not be tolerated.”
Following his conviction, ASIC disqualified Amos from managing corporations for five years after the date he is released from prison.
Amos is no longer a registered liquidator and cannot accept any appointments as an external administrator.
John Ford, the deputy commissioner and head of the Serious Financial Crime Taskforce at the Australian Taxation Office, has welcomed the court’s decision saying the sentencing is a warning to those looking to use their position to exploit the system.
“This outcome sends a clear message to those who look to gain an unfair advantage – you will be caught,” says Ford.
Amos was a registered liquidator from 11 May 2006 to 11 May 2023, but in April 2022 ASIC issued Amos with a direction that he does not accept further insolvency appointments due to his failure to lodge outstanding documents relating to the administration of Mikcon.
From this time he was unable to accept any new appointments as an external administrator and, following an investigation undertaken by ASIC, Amos sought to have his registration as a liquidator suspended. The suspension took effect from 4 February 2023 and when Amos did not renew his registration by 11 May 2023 the registration was automatically cancelled.
Amos has been the sole director and a shareholder of Amos Insolvency since 1 December 2008.
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