The founder of fallen whitegoods giant Kleenmaid has narrowly avoided being sent back to jail for fraud and insolvent trading, and has a job waiting for him with national retail boss Gerry Harvey.
Kleenmaid went into administration in 2009 with consolidated debts of around $118 million -- including $25.4 million in customer deposits paid for appliances that were never delivered.
Andrew Eric Young became the third former director convicted over the financial failure, pleading guilty in the Brisbane District Court on Friday.
In 2020, Young was sentenced to nine years after being convicted of defrauding the Westpac Bank of more than $13 million and racking up more than $750,000 in debt through insolvent trading.
After 11 months in custody, Young successfully appealed his conviction on mental health grounds, arguing he experienced episodes of amnesia and was not fit to stand trial while self-represented.
Thirteen years after the company's collapse, Young was back before the court to plead guilty on significantly reduced charges of aggravated fraud involving $330,000 and insolvent trading involving just over $20,500.
Prosecutor Lincoln Crowley conceded Young had stepped back from day to day trading to become a "de facto director" in a major company restructure before it failed.
However, days before the company went into administration, Young transferred $330,000 from the company - draining the staff payroll - leaving them empty-handed when the company folded.
The cash was transferred into an account solely controlled by Young and his wife, and assured staff that the reason "would become clear".
He also admitted knowing the company was in difficulty and allowed it to continue trading knowing it was days away from being insolvent.
Defence barrister Dane Jones said Young had injected millions of dollars of his own money into the business over the years.
Young's financial status has collapsed, the court was told.
Forced to sell his palatial home, Young now lives in a rented two-bedroom flat with his wife and must continue working into what should have been his retirement.
Gerry Harvey, boss of national retail giant Harvey Norman chain, wrote a reference on behalf of Young and guaranteed him a position in the company on release.
Justice Michael Byrne dismissed the defence claim, saying you would be "hard-pressed" to find an owner who did not inject funds into their own business venture.
The judge also described the business restructure as an "illusion" and that Young retained control of the operation.
He was highly critical of the directors in the final days of Kleenmaid - labelling Young's actions as greedy and selfish.
"Payday was imminent," he said.
"You deprived the staff of their wages the same way you deprived them of superannuation payments."
He described Young's offending as very serious and that the company director must have known that the company was in financial trouble.
"The end had to have been obvious.
"You showed yourself to be self-centred - a man of greed only interested in recovering or taking money for your own benefit."
However, he said Young was not being sentenced to the widespread damage Kleenmaid's collapse caused the wider community.
Young was sentenced to three years' imprisonment, suspended immediately.
