AS auditors work to explore the liquidity of embattled Gippsland business Macalister Constructions, a group of creditors have claimed the number of companies and individuals owed money is longer than the official list suggests.
Following last Wednesday’s initial creditors meeting in Melbourne, conducted by administrators SVPartners, several industry sources told The Express it had come to light there were “plenty” of other businesses and individuals not yet formally identified as creditors, including people who had paid Macalister for homes to be built which remained unfinished.
“There are people paying rent (on other accommodation) because their homes are not finished, or paying interest on loans for houses not completed,” one creditor said.
At last week’s meeting a committee of five, mostly Sale-based, creditors was appointed.
The committee will now consult with SVPartners and receive reports relevant to the administrator’s review of Macalister’s affairs, including whether there is any “stock on hand”.
It is understood up to 50 creditors were represented at the meeting, including Macalister Constructions director Callum Board who is also listed as a creditor.
Prior to the meeting SVPartners provided creditors with a report showing almost 350 businesses or individuals were collectively owed more than $12.5 million by the Sale-based company.
Many of those who spoke with The Express said they had no confidence of recovering what they were owed.
One source said the committee expected to “have a lot more information” made available to creditors by the next scheduled meeting on 18 February.
“We expect they (administrators) will have undertaken a thorough investigation… they won’t know everything but they should be able to interpret the company’s position factually and be able to identify what’s happening – if they were to say they were none the wiser we would be very disappointed with the progress,” he said.
