Former Continental Coal director pleads guilty

A former ASX-listed mining company director has pleaded guilty over alleged misuse of bridging finance by authorising a transfer of $915,000 when the business was in financial difficulty.

Former Continental Coal director Ashley Paul D'Sylva pleaded guilty to one charge of recklessly failing to exercise his powers while being a company director in the Stirling Gardens Magistrates Court yesterday.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission launched an investigation into Continental Coal and charged Dr D'Sylva, former director Peter Landau and company secretary Jane Flegg in 2020.

ASIC alleged Mr Landau, Dr D'Sylva and company secretary Jane Rosemary Flegg used their positions dishonestly in authorising the $915,000 payment to Celtic Capital from Continental Coal’s account.

According to ASIC, Dr D'Sylva arranged a $915,000 repayment to Celtic Capital, a client of his business Empire Equity, in February 2014.

The investigation reportedly found that Celtic Capital paid $1 million to Continental Coal as part of a company restructure, with the funds only to be used for paying the latter’s trade creditors, undertaking a rights issue and paying approved company expenses.

ASIC alleged Dr D'Sylva was aware of Continental Coal’s financial difficulties and the restrictions placed on the $1 million funds.

Dr D'Sylva’s sentencing date is scheduled for next year.

Mr Landau has pleaded guilty to nine charges in the Stirling Gardens Magistrates Court in August.

ASIC alleged Mr Landau stole $2.2 million of applicant funds from Citation Resources when he was a director there and forged a bank statement to show Citation had $675,658 when its account had less than $120.

ASIC further alleged that Mr Landau gave false and misleading information on the ASX, namely that Continental Coal received $2.6 million from investors when they had only received about $57,000.

Continental Coal was a Perth-based ASX-listed mining and exploration company with mining assets in South Africa.

Under federal court orders of winding up the company, a liquidator was appointed to Continental Coal in 2016.