Top financial controller of collapsed fashion label Alice McCall is accused of stealing more than $340,000 from the Australian company
- Maurice Egbert faces three charges of alleged theft
- Alice McCall went bankrupt in February
The former financial controller of now-liquidated Australian fashion brand Alice McCall is accused of stealing more than $340,000 from the company.
Maurice Egbert, 52, is facing three charges after police accused him of making 290 payments from the company to his own bank account in less than three years.
Police allege that Egbert used false invoices to suppliers to disguise payments from Alice McCall, who once had 14 stores in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
The former financial controller of the now liquidated Australian fashion brand Alice McCall is said to have stolen about $ 340,000 from the company. Alice McCall is pictured
At the time of his alleged theft, the company was piling up massive debts that eventually brought it down.
The Australian fashion label went bankrupt in February with more than $1 million in debt to its creditors.
The alleged payments came to light when the company’s general manager, Brett Robbins, reviewed his spending in April 2022, police allege.
Court documents alleged that Mr Robbins saw Alice McCall’s spending on supplies was much higher than expected and that those suppliers were not actually being used by the company.
An internal investigation would have revealed that the money had been paid into three of Egbert’s bank accounts, the police claim in the documents.
Court documents show that part of Egbert’s job was to pay suppliers through an online portal connected to the company’s bank accounts.
Ms. McCall, Mr. Robbins and the company’s chief operating officer questioned Egbert about the payments on May 5, 2022.
Egbert allegedly told them he was using the money to “support a gambling addiction” and was “paying someone off.” Daily telegram reported.
Egbert was charged and confronted by the South Sydney Proactive Crime team in December Downing Center local court on Feb. 13.
His lawyer Omar Juweinat told the court that the police’s claims should be closely investigated.
“The facts are somewhat complicated and require an analysis of the bank records together with the material available to the liquidators to determine whether the amount has been correctly determined,” he said.
Alice McCall suffered financially from the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns and went into receivership in November 2020.
The financial position did not improve and the company was subsequently liquidated with reported debts of $1.1 million.
More than half of that, $677,000, was owed to the Australian tax authorities.
When her fashion brand was liquidated, Ms. McCall said: ‘It’s time to close the doors and make room for a new chapter in my life.
“I want to thank all the people who have worn, supported and loved the brand,” she wrote on social media.
Egbert is due to appear in court in May.
Maurice Egbert, 52, is facing three charges after police accused him of making 290 payments from Alice McCall to his own bank account in less than three years. Pictured are models wearing clothes designed by Alice McCall