Peats Ridge Director Matt Grant Accused Of Embezzling $1.3 Million

The director of the collapsed Peats Ridge Music Festival, Matt Grant, has been accused of embezzling $1.3 million dollars and wiping records, with the investigation into the troubled event establishing that $1.4 million in ticket revenue has effectively disappeared.

Grant announced at the beginning of the year that the beloved New Year’s Eve festival would not be returning in 2013/2014 due to the low income generated before it was exposed that Peats Ridge owed a massive $1.2 million to 23 different creditors, including a $95,000 unpaid appearance fee for 2012 headlining act John Butler Trio.

According to TheMusic, an investigation was launched by liquidators Worrells, who have so far only been able to recover $158,975, not even enough to cover the liquidation fees. They’ve established that $1.4 million in ticket revenue is unaccounted for and that emails and files have been deleted from the company computer, with Mal Tulloch of the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance saying, “There is a litany of illegal behaviour, we believe, by the director.”

Worrells have been hot on the trail of the missing ticket revenue, establishing that third party OzTix deposited the money into the Peats Ridge bank account, which was then changed to a merchant facility and then to another bank account both in the name of The Festival Company Pty Ltd, which is also owned by Matt Grant. Worrells have received no response from The Festival Company Pty Ltd about the whereabouts of the cash.

Worrells’ Christopher Darin has notified the Australian Securities And Investment Commission regarding section 533 of the Corporations Act 2001, which requires liquidators to notify ASIC if there is the suggestion of illegal activity by a director or company representative, but ASIC has advised that they won’t be conducting an investigation. At this stage, most creditors have resigned themselves to the fact that they probably won’t be seeing the money owed to them from Peats Ridge.

Matt Grant was accused of attempting to skip the country with a trip to France earlier in the year but the director has already been, and returned in May. He has now declared himself bankrupt, which means he cannot run a company; however, he can still be employed by one.

So, who’s going to Pyramid or Falls?

(via Tone Deaf)

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