Liquidators for failed advertising agency The Media Counsel are briefing the Serious Fraud Office and the Companies Office on the company’s affairs, after unsecured creditors were informed they are unlikely to receive any money they are owed.
According to the Sunday Star Times, insolvency firm McDonald Vague’s liquidator Iain McLennan said the company’s accounts were misleading and a lack of access to the company’s accounting system was hindering investigations. SFO boss Adam Feeley has confirmed the SFO spoke with McDonald Vague some weeks ago, but says until the matter is fully assessed, he can not comment.
The liquidator Iain McLennan said in his October report that he had filed a claim as an unsecured creditor in director Glenda Wynyard’s bankruptcy, and he was pursuing other parties and trusts that benefited directly from the company. Media Counsel owes creditors nearly $2.5 million, with $2.2m of that unsecured, and unlikely to be seen again. In his report McLennan blames the company’s failure on Wynyard removing funds from the company to fund her lifestyle.
Wynyard was made redundant after leading McCann Universal in 2006, and reportedly took many clients with her to The Media Counsel.
When news of the liquidation broke in early 2010, there was both criticism and praise for Wynyard, forcing her to respond on this very website. On 10 February 2010, she wrote she was “dismayed and distressed by the misinformation that is being fed into the various industry websites” and sought to rectify these.
Wynyard also defended a $2.4m “shareholder loan” saying this referred to her shareholder’s account “which is overdrawn”. She wrote she “could have walked away with literally millions” but didn’t. “I have literally walked away with very little to show for my efforts…”
Wynyard is believed to be in Sydney and could not be contacted.
