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The mystery surrounding the shock departure of Quintis founder Frank Wilson last year has deepened, with revelations the corporate watchdog is accusing him of allowing the company to release information that was misleading or deceptive in a letter sent to the ASX the same day he quit his sandalwood empire.
The former managing director's resignation in March last year left the business world reeling.
He had attended a lavish party just days earlier to launch Quintis's new brand — it was formerly known as TFS Corporation — with celebrity guests including former Australian cricket captain Ricky Ponting and AFL boss Gillon McLachlan.
Around the same time, he also appeared in a slick corporate video with former high-profile Quintis shareholders and ambassadors Adam Gilchrist and Daniel Ricciardo.
But now the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) wants Mr Wilson to be fined and disqualified from managing corporations, for allegedly failing to tell investors and the Quintis board that he knew a major sandalwood oil supply contract had been terminated.
Court documents show that a key document in ASIC's case against Mr Wilson, launched in the Federal Court on Thursday, was a response he sent to the ASX on behalf of the company on March 27.
In the letter, he told the ASX his company — which owns and manages thousands of hectares of Indian sandalwood plantations across northern Australia — had met its requirements to tell the market whether any agreements had changed or ended.
In the same letter, he also said Quintis had a 20-year contract to supply sandalwood oil for US$4,500 per kilogram, plus CPI, until 2034 to Galderma, a subsidiary of Nestle.
After he sent the letter, he tendered his resignation to the company, with the market told he wanted to join another company to take control of Quintis.
But ASIC alleges Mr Wilson was aware in December 2016 that Galderma wanted to end that contract, and by the following February he knew an agreement to terminate the contract had been executed as of January 1.
The Quintis board — including former West Coast Eagles chairman Dalton Gooding and former BHP executive and now Quintis chief executive Julius Matthys — did not become aware of this agreement until May 9, ASIC alleges.
The end of the Galderma contract was announced to the ASX on May 10, with Quintis shares falling 44 per cent on the news.
In its civil action, ASIC alleges Mr Wilson failed to meet his duties as a director and allowed the company to make misleading or deceptive statements to the ASX.
Mr Wilson has denied the allegations and said he was "looking forward to the opportunity to expose the facts and the board's actions concerning the alleged termination."
The matter is listed for hearing on June 28.
Topics: agribusiness, business-economics-and-finance, kununurra-6743