An outback car rental company based on the Gold Coast has gone into liquidation, owing tourists hundreds of thousands of dollars in bond money and raising questions about a Federal Court case aimed at recovering funds.

Key points: Australian 4WD Hire's previous owner Smart Corporation sold the firm in December

Australian 4WD Hire's previous owner Smart Corporation sold the firm in December Days later, Smart Corp went into liquidation

Days later, Smart Corp went into liquidation The ACCC is alleging Smart Corp engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is suing Smart Corporation, which ran Australian 4WD Hire, through the Federal Court.

The consumer watchdog is seeking financial penalties, compensation for customers and injunctions against the company.

It is also seeking disqualification orders against former director Vitali Roesch and his wife, current director Maryna Kosukhina.

The court action, filed in April last year, follows numerous complaints to the agency spanning many months.

The ACCC is alleging Smart Corporation, through its then-subsidiary Australian 4WD Hire, engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct and unconscionable conduct, used unfair contract terms and made false or misleading representations in relation to insurance cover.

Vitali Roesch and his wife Marnya Kosukhina were criticised by Justice Jackson. ( m.ok.ru: Vitali Roesch )

Which makes Melbourne man Conor O'Connor very angry.

Mr O'Connor hired a Toyota Hilux from Australian 4WD Hire last December to take his parents on a trip when they visited from Ireland.

He booked the car in August, paid the full deposit at the end of November, before picking up the vehicle on December 27 for what would be a 900-kilometre round trip.

But in the time between him paying his full deposit and picking up the car, Australian 4WD Hire was sold and Smart Corporation had gone into liquidation.

Mr O'Connor said the transaction left him feeling "hoodwinked".

Mr O'Connor said nothing was mentioned when he picked up the vehicle and headed for Victoria's high country.

On returning the car, his family was told there were no issues and their security bond would be returned.

Five days later, they had received nothing, so Mr O'Connor said he contacted Australian 4WD Hire to query the bond return.

"I was informed the company had been sold, the previous business had been liquidated and the new owners had no access to any of the bond monies for any of the renters over the Christmas period," he said.

Conor O'Connor's family about to hit the road in their Australian 4WD Hire vehicle. ( Supplied: Conor O'Connor )

"Basically, I was told, 'deal with the liquidators'. No-one wanted to have a conversation with me."

Effectively, that meant he had lost his $5,000 bond.

Bond problems a common complaint

The ABC has spoken to several people who hired a car then failed to get their bond money back.

The Product Review website lists a number of recent complaints from dissatisfied renters.

Stephen Parton from Brisbane picked his car up in Perth on December 27.

On December 18, he received an email, seen by the ABC, stating the company was under new management and provided new banking details for the bond money.

But the account number provided was that of Smart Corporation, the previous owner of Australian 4WD Hire.

Conor O'Connor lost his $5,000 deposit after a family trip in December. ( Supplied: Conor O'Connor )

On the day he was to pick up the vehicle, he received another email from the company's new owners, telling him he had not paid the $1,500 security bond into the correct account and he would have to pay again into the correct account.

Mr Parton said the new management team told him it was an error that he was given the previous owner's account, but that the transfer would likely bounce.

But the transfer went through and Mr Parton is still chasing the money.

He did have a second bond paid back by the new owners of Australian 4WD Hire.

TIMELINE OF EVENTS

April 17, 2019 : the ACCC files in the Federal Court, alleging Australian 4WD Hire's contracts contain unfair terms, misleading representation on insurance and "unconscionable conduct" over retaining bond money.

October 8, 2019 : Justice Darren Jackson of the Federal Court orders Smart Corporation, Mr Roesch and Ms Kosukhina produce documents Smart Corp claimed were destroyed. In his order, Justice Jackson is critical of "unexplained or unsatisfactory evidence" provided by the company, Mr Roesch and Ms Kosukhina.

December 6 2019 : Mr Roesch and his accountant meet liquidators SV Partners to discuss the solvency of Smart Corporation. The meeting is noted in SV Partners' initial notice to creditors.

December 12 : Mahesh Thakur incorporates a new company, its name listed only as an ACN. He's the sole director and shareholder. The ABC has been unable to contact Mr Thakur. The address listed in the company's registration document is actually occupied by a tailoring business, whose owner told the ABC she had never heard of Mr Thakur.

December 17 : Australian 4WD Hire is sold to the company registered by Mr Thakur.

December 23: Smart Corporation appoints liquidator SV Partners, which estimates debts of more than $3.6 million. That includes bond monies totalling $308,000. The liquidator's initial report states: "The buyer has agreed to be responsible for the bond amount." The new owner disputes this.

'Ripping customers off'

In emails to people awaiting the return of their bonds, the new owner of Australian 4WD Hire has stated they are not responsible for the money paid to the previous owners.

The timing of the sale has raised questions for Clayfield MP Tim Nicholls, who first highlighted the issue in Queensland Parliament 18 months ago.

MP Tim Nicholls told State Parliament Australian 4WD customers have been ripped off. ( AAP: Dave Hunt, file photo )

Last Wednesday, he told State Parliament Mr Roesch and Ms Kosukhina were "ripping customers off right up to and over Christmas 2019".

"Despite clearly knowing they were going to sell the business and then put the company in liquidation, Kosukhina and Roesch … delayed paying legitimate creditors and continued to accept rental security bonds and deposits, and it appears also did so for some days after selling it," Mr Nicholls said.

"Dodgy business indeed. The new owner refuses to refund bonds paid prior to Christmas and of course, to no-one's surprise, there is virtually no money in the defunct company's accounts, despite tens of thousands of dollars being deposited by customers in the lead-up to the sale and liquidation."

Mr Nicholls also told Parliament he had written to the liquidator, calling on him to investigate "all aspects of this tawdry and shameful business".

"He [the liquidator] should review the dodgy business contract and publicly examine the individuals concerned to see if money can be recovered to benefit creditors."

Customers who have been fighting Smart Corporation for months over rental bonds likewise fear their money is gone.

In a statement to the ABC, Ms Kosukhina said the ACCC action against Australian 4WD Hire had placed "enormous strain on the business".

She said the company was solvent at the time of selling the business but the costs of litigation had taken a toll.

"Voluntarily liquidating/closing trading likely would have been the simpler solution, but I wanted to make as best effort as possible to preserve the jobs of the people that work(ed) at Australian 4WD, and protect the interests of the customers with security bonds, forward bookings, as well as involved financiers after my decision to entirely forego operation of the business," she said.

Ms Kosukhina said the sale was done on a "walk-in-walk out" basis and neither she nor Vitali Roesch maintained any interest in the business.

She maintains all customer bonds and car leases were paid up to the date of sale.

A spokesman for the new owners says they are only responsible for customer bonds paid after the date of the sale, not those outstanding.

'These people were a disgrace'

Last August, UK residents Peter and Sandra Doherty hired a Prado in Cairns, travelling 15,000km over three months through the Top End and Central Australia.

They were beset with mechanical problems. The latch on their bonnet broke and the vehicle broke down twice, stopping as if it had run out of fuel.

The first time, the couple were stranded down the Tanami Track for 10 hours in 46-degree Celsius heat as they waited for a tow truck to arrive.

"We were very lucky … we had some passing Telstra engineers who stopped and had a satellite phone so we were able to call for help," Mr Doherty said.

UK residents Peter and Sandra Doherty broke down on the Tanami Track last year. ( Supplied: Peter Doherty )

A mechanic in Alice Springs could find nothing wrong.

The vehicle broke down in the desert again a few days later, but this time they had a mobile and called for a tow truck.

Mechanics took the fuel tanks to pieces.

An email from Ayers Rock Automotive, seen by the ABC, stated: "We … found the gaze filter & swirl pot badly contaminated with what looked like some type of black algae, we cleaned best as possible & re-assembled. It has been growing in tank for some time, until it finally blocked up."

But Mr Doherty said Australian 4WD Hire accused the couple of using contaminated fuel and refused to return $7,500 of their $10,000 bond.

When they argued, Mr Doherty said the company became abusive.

Mr Doherty says they were fortunate to be found by two Telstra technicians with a satellite phone. ( Supplied )

"They said we shouldn't talk about things we didn't understand and that I'd been the worst driver that they'd ever experienced and it was totally my fault, I was incompetent and I'd ruined their car," he said.

Mr Doherty vehemently denied those accusations.

"It just left us feeling kind of pretty upset really and not having got our bond money."

Mr Doherty said he doubted he would ever see the remainder of his bond money and voiced frustration that it took authorities months to act.

"We know that this isn't representative of Australia, but these people were a disgrace and a shame to Australia.

"The one bad taste really is that they have been allowed to continue trading."

Who is running the company?

Mr O'Connor also said he was disappointed the ACCC did not act sooner.

"Australian 4WD Hire had come to the attention of the ACCC, had been through the courts," he said.

The ABC has spoken to the new management of Australian 4WD Hire.

Vitali Roesch's Smart Corporation sold the 4WD hire firm days before going into liquidation. ( Facebook: Vitali Roesch )

A man, who claimed he was a spokesman but would not give his name, said the new owner was Anthony Lee, but that Mr Lee could not be contacted.

The spokesman said sending Mr Parton the wrong account details was "an honest mistake on our behalf".

He insisted Mr Lee and Muhesh Thakur were running the company together and that neither had links to Mr Roesch or Ms Kosukhina.

Mr Nicholls said he hoped the ACCC would continue their legal action, despite the liquidation.

"People shouldn't just escape because they've gone into liquidation or bankruptcy from the proper application of the law and I think there's too many people who have been damaged for this to be just normal course of business," he said.

The ACCC said leave of the court was required for it to continue proceedings against the liquidated company, but could continue unaffected against Mr Roesch and Ms Kosukhina. The next hearing is scheduled for February 19.

Liquidator Matthew Bookless said he would conduct a thorough investigation of the contract of sale by Smart Corporation and that his main priority was recovering money for creditors.