The corporate watchdog has dragged embattled gold producer Wiluna Mining and its former chair Milan Jerkovic to court over allegations it mislead investors.
The Federal Court civil suit centres around a $57.3 million capital raising undertaken by the company in June 2022, which operated a mine in the northern goldfields.
But the Australian Investments and Securities Commission now claims $7 million of those funds were never received, something investors were left in the dark about.
Less than five weeks later, the company was plunged into administration before being de-listed on the ASX in April 2024 for failing to meet its financial reporting obligations.
In a statement released on Monday, ASIC confirmed it had taken legal action against Wiluna and was seeking a declaration of contravention for breaching its continuous disclosure obligations.
Further, the corporate watchdog alleged Jerkovic breached his director duties by failing to detail the amount raised by the company, while former chief commercial officer James Malone has been accused of failing to ensure the statements issued to the market were not false and misleading.
The pair are both being pursued for declarations of contravention and facing the prospect of a financial penalty.
ASIC chair Joe Longo said the company and its two senior officials allegedly engaged in serious contraventions of the Corporations Act by misleading its investors.
“The lack of transparency and subsequent corporate failure have the potential to drive a loss of confidence in our capital markets,” he said.
“Market integrity concerns like this may lead to diminished investor participation in capital raisings in all or sections of Australian equity markets, which ultimately impacts the Australian economy and international standing.
“ASIC will continue to take action to hold directors and officers of publicly listed companies accountable for their misconduct.”
Wiluna remains in the hands of FTI Consulting administrators, who have been working to sell its gold mine.
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