Liquidator Edward Muscat from Mayfields Business Advisors says eight unsecured creditors of closed Tasmanian printer Print Applied Technology will never see a cent of their money back.

Muscat is continuing to wind up the Hobart based business owned by the Todisco family after it closed down in 2013 and went into liquidation shortly after.

Muscat told Australian Printer there are eight unsecured creditors with a total sum of around $800,000 owed. Muscat says it is ‘definitive’ these creditors will never receive a cent of their money back.

According to Muscat, the business was forced to close as part of a restructure of the Todisco family’s businesses. 

“The company was required to restructure because it had agreements that were untenable. A restructure was required so new agreements could be put in place in order for the business to move forward into profitability,” he says.

“There was nothing untoward in that restructure and the reasons for it were legitimate reasons.”

Muscat says after the business closed, any outstanding money owed to staff was paid out by a related entity of the Todisco family and many staff were reshuffled to work at the Todisco’s other businesses. 

In 2011, Print Applied Technology was fined $120,000 by the tax department after overstating a claim for an input tax credit.

The case centred on a 2009 deal of a second-hand Heidelberg Speedmaster which Print Applied  agreed to buy for $3.3m.

However, before agreeing to finance the machine through a hire purchase facility, the Bank of Queensland enlisted an independent valuer, which reduced the valuation of the machine down to $1.9m.

The machine was then sold to Print Applied via Heidelberg for $2.09m. However Print Applied claimed an input tax credit of $300,000 in its BAS.

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal of Australia ruled that by disregarding the ‘significant risk’ that a company could file an incorrect BAS was ‘clearly reckless’ on the part of the director at the time, Frank Todisco.

Muscat confirmed ‘a significant text debt was left behind’ but denies this had anything to do with the closure of the business.

Australian Printer contacted the most recent director of the company, Michael Todisco who declined to provide comment.

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