Exclusive: collapsed company Cryo Australia owes the federal minister and his business partner at least $410,000

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

The government minister Stuart Robert and his business partner stand to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars in an ill-fated investment in a health company headed by a convicted rapist.

Liquidators are investigating whether crimes may have been committed by directors of the company, Cryo Australia, where Robert briefly sat on the board alongside rapist Neran De Silva.

The investigation by the liquidators David Clout and Patricia Talty appears to focus on the conduct of De Silva, whom creditors have accused of “misappropriating” company stock.

There is no suggestion Robert has done anything wrong in relation to Cryo Australia, which offered customers therapy sessions in a human-sized cooler.

In a report to creditors, the liquidators said the company, which collapsed earlier this year owing more than $1.4m, appeared to have traded while insolvent while under De Silva’s control and that “the directors may have breached their duties” to it, which can be a crime. De Silva was the company’s only director at the time it went into liquidation.

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Cryo Australia owes a company linked to Robert and his business partner and friend John Margerison at least $410,000.

The chances of recovering the money appear remote as the company had assets of just $16,000 when it collapsed.

Robert, who as minister for government services is responsible for the controversial robodebt program, has been dogged by controversy over his short stint as a director of Cryo Australia.

The company welcomed Robert to its board in August last year, but he quit two and a half weeks later when he became a minister.

At the time, his fellow director De Silva was appealing against a conviction for rape to the Queensland court of appeal. That appeal failed and De Silva is now appealing to the high court, which is to hear the case on Wednesday.

A spokeswoman for Robert did not respond to detailed questions about Cryo Australia.

“To comply with the ministerial standards and to meet community expectations, minister Robert’s assets are managed by the trustees of a blind trust,” she said.

“The trustees are responsible for all holdings and make all decisions regarding the management and structure of those holdings.”

De Silva is believed to be in immigration detention. He could not be reached through his solicitor, Emma Higgins of the Brisbane law firm Robertson O’Gorman, or by email at another company with which he is associated, Global Health and Wellness Group.

The Queensland supreme court appointed Clout and Talty to liquidate Cryo Australia in early March on the application of another company connected to Robert, JM National Property.

Robert was a director of JM National Property between March and August last year and has previously told parliament he owned a stake in a property investment trust run by the company.

In October last year, after controversy about his business interests, Robert put his assets into a “blind trust”, over which he has no control.

On his most recent declaration to parliament, he listed as assets only the trust, vehicles including a vintage Austin 7 and a collection of Australian coins.

Company documents show that JM National Property’s sole director and shareholder is Margerison, a Gold Coast businessman and a close friend of Robert. Margerison could not be reached for comment.

A former business associate of De Silva’s, Paul Treloar, told the Guardian that Margerison and Robert invested as much as $700,000 in Cryo Australia by lending the company money and buying shares in it.

Company documents show JM National Property owned half of Cryo Australia and was owed more than $410,000 as a creditor.

“Those guys were just bent over, unfortunately,” Treloar said.

Treloar said he was being charged $8,000 a month by finance company PMFA after guaranteeing a loan for equipment a Cryo Australia franchisee ordered from the company that was never delivered.

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In a 5 June report to creditors, the liquidators said a number of issues needed further investigation, including allegations that De Silva “misappropriated” company stock and traded the company while it was insolvent, which can be a crime.

They said $2.37m from sales dating as far back as August 2016 “have been paid to a bank account which is not operated by the company” but instead by a related company, which they did not name.

Cryo Australia’s “directors may have breached their duties, and in doing so, caused the company to have suffered a loss”, they told creditors.

“If proven, it may be found the directors have committed offences and are liable to compensate the company for any losses caused.”

It is not clear to which of Cryo Australia’s former directors the liquidators were referring, and Clout declined to provide further details of the investigation.

He said he was hopeful an application to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission for funding to further investigate the company would succeed.

“It looks like all the attributes are there,” he said.

An Asic spokeswoman declined to comment.

Robert’s business ventures have long caused him political difficulty.

In 2016, when Malcolm Turnbull was prime minister, he dumped Robert from the ministry after it emerged he had taken a “private” trip to Beijing to celebrate a mining deal struck by a company in which he had an indirect interest.

He also came under scrutiny after he and other Liberal frontbenchers, including Tony Abbott, accepted Rolexes that they thought were fake from a visiting Chinese billionaire.

In October last year he got into fresh strife after he failed to declare his interest in a bodybuilding supplements business to parliament for four months.

The department of finance has also repeatedly asked Robert about the $2,000 a month he charged taxpayers for his home internet.

• Cryo Australia has no relationship to Cryo Pty Ltd, an entirely separate company.