ASIC winds up WA property scheme

THE Federal Court has ordered the winding up of the Lake Coogee Estate managed investment scheme following an investigation by the Australian Securities & Investments Commission. The MIS scheme was not registered with ASIC. The court found that the scheme had been operated by Lake Coogee Estate Management Pty Ltd (LCEM) in conjunction with Citibond Finance and Investments Pty Ltd (Citibond) and ALB Developments No 1 Pty Ltd (formerly Australian Landbank Pty Ltd). ASIC records show that Lake Coogee’s director is Brian Gerard McNamara, while Stephen James Priestley was a director from July 2005 to March 2007. ASIC said in a statement that, on May 11 2007, the court ordered the companies be prevented from further dealing with the scheme assets. The orders required the convening of a special meeting whereby investors were invited to consider and vote on proposals regarding the manner in which the scheme should be wound up. ASIC investigated the alleged scheme after receiving a complaint from an investor. ASIC’s investigation revealed that at no time did any person or company connected with the development of the estate register the scheme with ASIC, as required under the Corporations Act.