A prestigious western Sydney golf club has found itself in a multi-million-dollar hole, with the ATO filing an application for Twin Creeks Golf & Country Club to be placed into liquidation.
Court documents show that the club, which until recently was the host of the state’s top golf tournament, is insolvent to the tune of $2,495,752.13. The figure is made up of approximately $1.5m in outstanding tax and fringe benefits tax instalment provisions, plus a further $1m in outstanding superannuation guarantee charges, plus interest and penalties for late payment of retirement contributions dating back as far as five years.
Twin Creeks, which was home to the NSW Open from 2017 to 2019, was purchased by Chinese interests in 2015 with directors, including Tommy Zhao Qing Jiang, a Chinese-language media mogul, and Hong Kong-based casino junket promoter Jack Yin Lok Lam, alleged to have ties to China’s communist party.
In August a statutory demand was placed on the club, stipulating that the company must “pay to the creditor the total of the amounts of the debts; or to secure or compound for the total of the amounts of the debts, to the creditor’s reasonable satisfaction”.
The club was further warned that failure to comply with its terms may result in the company being placed in liquidation. The club failed to meet the plaintiff’s demands within 21 days of serving, resulting in the ATO seeking an order for the company to be wound up and a liquidator appointed.
The Luddenham-based club will face a hearing in the Federal Court of Australia in February, 2023.
