Wagering games developer forced into liquidation for not paying staff

afr.com:

A former staff member of an Australian wagering and games developer looking to claw back unpaid salary, superannuation and annual leave has successfully fought to have its local operations forcibly wound up.

Royal Wins, an Australian mobile developer of wagering and betting games which is listed in the US and Canada, and run out of Sydney until mid-2022, will have its Australian entity liquidated following an order last month from the Supreme Court of NSW.

Royal Wins developed skill and wagering platform Kash Karnival. Louise Kennerley

About $3.3 million of unassessed creditor claims have been lodged, with the largest, about $3.2 million, from the Australian Taxation Office.

In April, after not being paid for a year, the former staff member – owed almost $40,000 – made a statutory demand for their pay owed from April, May and June 2022, when the company sacked most of its Australian staff.

Royal Wins did not pay, so the individual applied to the court to wind up the company.

In June, the NSW Supreme Court ordered Rapsey Griffiths Turnaround & Advisory be appointed liquidator of Royal Wins. The company did not respond to The Australian Financial Review’s approach for comment.

The ATO has a penalty regime it can invoke for unpaid superannuation. Company directors can be personally liable for a company’s unpaid super if the minimum super for employees is not paid on time and to the right fund.

The ATO can order directors to pay the super guarantee charge, which is more than the super that would have been required to be paid, and is not tax deductible.

Royal Wins shares have not traded since November because of a failure to file its audited accounts on time for the 2022 financial year. It has also failed to file its accounts