Daniel Roberts and Shashanth Shankar Tellakula Gowrishankar linked to Newcastle building firm collapse that hits creditors for $5 million

Daniel Roberts and Shashanth Shankar Tellakula Gowrishankar are under investigation as to whether they were shadow directors of DSD Builders that was placed in the hands of liquidator Shumit Banerjee, of Westburn Advisory, in February.

The company, that has Mr Roberts former partner Angela Edith Roberts as its sole director, is estimated to owe at least $4.9 million.

In a report to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), Mr Banerjee said Ms Roberts had failed to provide details disclosing the company's assets and liabilities, so it was unclear how much was owed to creditors.

"My investigations indicate that Mr Daniel Roberts and Mr Shashanth Shankar may be considered shadow directors of the company...," he said.

"The director has not provided me with any information regarding the company's failure."

Mr Banerjee said his investigations to date revealed that the company collapse was linked to failure to maintain adequate books and records, poor strategic management and not lodging tax returns.

The biggest known creditor is Newcastle's Goodwin Street Development Pty Ltd, that is claiming $3.9 million in relation to a partially completed student accommodation development at Jesmond.

NSW Self Insurance Corporation is listed as owed $1.02 million and Newcastle developer Greenwood Futures is claiming $428,723 for a townhouse development at Jesmond.

Ruling on a dispute between Greenwood Futures and DSD Builders in late 2018, the Supreme Court's Justice Robert McDougall described Mr Roberts and Mr Shankar as "principals" of the construction company and launched a scathing attack on the pair.

"There is, in my view, very strong evidence that Mr Roberts and Mr Shankar have engaged in structuring their affairs in such a way so as to avoid, wherever possible, paying their liabilities," Justice McDougall said.

The judge said DSD Builders had "sought to harass" the developer by lodging repeated payment claims to an adjudicator during a dispute over the construction of the three Jesmond townhouses, that included a long list of defective work.

"The whole chaotic situation is essentially one of DSD's making...," Justice McDougall said.

Unfortunately for Mr Roberts and Mr Shankar, he did not stop there.

"It is open to infer that they have engaged in the well-known but opprobrious practice of utilising phoenix companies: consigning insolvent companies to the fires of liquidation, and creating new companies to arise from the ashes and take their place."

Justice McDougall also pointed out some "curious anomalies" in DSD Builders' financial statements as at December 2017.

"The statements show a profit before tax in the sum of $306,000," he said.

"They do not show any provision for tax. It is difficult to understand how a company which, on the face of the statements, had no carried forward losses could have earned that profit without being required to pay tax upon it.

"No income tax return has been produced which could explain this somewhat unusual state of affairs."

Mr Banerjee said it was unknown if the tax office was owed money in the liquidation as tax returns had not been lodged since 2016-17.

The Newcastle Herald reported in November 2019 that Mr Roberts and Mr Shankar were linked to numerous building companies accused of leaving a host of defective or incomplete work and unpaid bills causing nightmares for homeowners and businesses.

Dozens of people - including homeowners, tradies, developers and suppliers - detailed being caught in a never-ending series of battles that have swirled around the pair, with some disputes dragging out for years.

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