Mystery men behind firms that paid millions to gangsters, accountants
The director of a construction company that received money from tax-dodging firms said he was so high on illegal drugs that he could not recall anything about the business, while the director of another related firm has been ordered to appear for examinations by the NSW Crime Commission.
Australian Taxation Office-backed liquidator McGrathNicol is seeking to claw back millions of dollars that construction consultancy Dropshaft and labour-hire firm SSG NSW sent out to 60 firms and individuals, on the grounds that the payments were uncommercial or for no benefit.
Liquidators have taken control of a group of 15 companies, mostly labour-hire firms in the construction sector, that collapsed owing $104 million. Bloomberg
Dropshaft and SSG are among 15 companies McGrathNicol has taken control of after they collapsed owing a total of $104 million in PAYG and payroll taxes.
The companies include labour-hire firms that supplied workers to NSW construction labour-hire group Zenithand then sent money to SSG and Dropshaft before shutting down.
According to court documents, SSG sent hundreds of thousands of dollars to a Comancheros associate, a drug cook, a property tycoon, the owner of an online gambling website, an artificial intelligence firm and accountants. The Australian Financial Review does not suggest that each recipient of the funds otherwise knew or associated with one another.
For its part, Dropshaft sent $300,000 to the foreign exchange account of legendary restaurateur Augustine Chan, who ran Sydney’s East Ocean restaurant chain in the 1980s, and $1.3 million to accountant Max Bardella and his associated companies, according to liquidator documents.
Bardella, who is Chan’s accountant, has said the transactions to himself and Chan had “substantive explanations” and will be defended.
But who was really behind SSG and Dropshaft – which have no direct link to Zenith – remains a mystery.
Based on ASIC records, Dropshaft’s director was 38-year-old Nelson Evers, who lived in Elderslie in Sydney’s south-west and had a background in air conditioning.
In a previously unreported liquidator examination, Evers said he had been on methamphetamines, GBH – gamma-hydroxybutyrate or liquid ecstasy – and marijuana at the time. He said he was sometimes in a psychosis and went weeks without sleeping.
“I was on quite heavy drug use, and yes, my memory around it [Dropshaft] is very vague,” he said, according to transcripts viewed by the Financial Review.
Evers, who, despite being on Centrelink, was represented by Sydney lawyer Andrew Stewart during examinations, said he understood Dropshaft to be a construction consultancy but could not explain any of its projects.
He said he was offered the job through “an Indian man” whom he did not remember and who he met through his then housemate Daniel Wade. Wade, who Evers said was on benefits at the time, was also director of SSG.
‘Long stint in rehab’
At the time, Evers said he had gotten out of “a long stint in rehab” and was looking to “get myself back on track”.
However, he said all he did as director was “administration”. That involved the mystery man coming to his house to get him to sign paperwork and communicating to him through disappearing WhatsApp messages.
For his troubles, Evers was paid $700 a week, and sometimes $1000 a week. He denied ever seeing emails he purportedly sent on behalf of Dropshaft to a property lawyer about a project in Dover Heights.
“I don’t recall any email, let alone email accounts,” he said.
Evers, who told liquidators he had since recovered from his drug addictions, could not be reached for comment.
The director of the company developing that project, Liu “Alex” Yang, told liquidators in a separate examination that a man he knew only as “Jack” – whom he met at a card game but had lost his contact details – had suggested he be the director.
Burwood Accounting boss Chady Elias, whose firm was the accountant for some labour-hire firms supplying Zenith for about six months, told liquidators last year he privately invested in the Dover Heights property on behalf of a silent investor he called “Kanu” who had since left the country.
Meanwhile, Wade, a road traffic controller who was director of SSG, was not called for liquidator examinations because he declared bankruptcy in 2024.
However, the NSW Crime Commission recently secured orders for Wade to appear before the Supreme Court this month in relation to a long-running proceeds of crime case involving Mohannad Omar Ahmad Al-Far, a convicted manufacturer of liquid ecstasy.
SSG paid Al-Far $240,000 in 2021, six months before his arrest, which liquidators are seeking to claw back.
According to the court orders, Wade must attend for an examination “concerning his affairs, including the nature and location of any property in which he has an interest”.
Asked for comment by The Australian Financial Review,Wade replied, “No, thanks mate, not interested, see you later” and did not respond to further messages.
David Marin-Guzman writes about industrial relations, workplace, policy and leadership from Sydney. Connect with David on Twitter. Email David at david.marin-guzman@afr.com