The number of businesses owed money by collapsed Newcastle building company Sehez Group has swelled to a staggering 307.
Liquidator Richard Rohrt, of Melbourne insolvency firm Hamilton Murphy, said Sehez's known debts totalled at least $2.5 million, but more than half the creditors had not lodged a claim yet.
Asked whether 307 creditors was a lot by the standards of company insolvencies, Mr Rohrt said: "Yep. Generally anything over 100 is considered pretty steep.
"You don't have many companies go down, in reality, with more than 100 creditors, mainly because in that 100 creditors you've got a whole lot of people who turn supply off before you do any further damage."
Many subcontractors have told the Newcastle Herald that they continued to work for Sehez in the hope or expectation of recovering money owed to them from previous jobs. Some are owed more than $100,000.
Mr Rohrt said the scale of the losses would have had a "profound" effect on the Newcastle community.
"How much has the collapse of Sehez done with so many creditors that would have an impact locally?" he said.
"With that many, that's a lot. That would clearly have an impact on many, many families, not just the 300 but the flow-on effect."
Concreter Vince Di Prinzio, one of the hundreds out of pocket, was shocked by the number of creditors.
"That's surprising. I honestly didn't think it was that many, but far out. I walked away from them a long time ago," he said.
The Victorian Supreme Court issued a wind-up order in February for Sehez, which began to get into financial trouble in January 2019.
"They were just going from contractor to contractor, and that's why in the end I said, 'Sorry, I'm not doing it any more,'" Mr Di Prinzio said.
Mr Rohrt said coronavirus travel bans and delays accessing Sehez's financial records had slowed the assessment of its liabilities.
"A lot of the creditors have not lodged a claim with us, so that [$2.5 million] figure is probably going to go higher," he said.
"We would only be guessing as to what it really is until such time as people fill out the documentation.
"There's dozens and dozens and dozens of creditors who haven't responded. We're completely stumped by coronavirus in our ability to hold meetings."
IN THE NEWS
-
Hunter health authority warns of Ross River, Barmah Forest virus risk
-
How coronavirus kills: Q&A with infectious diseases expert Josh Davis
-
Closed beaches and empty streets: Pictures of Newcastle and the Hunter amid COVID-19
-
The coronavirus crisis in Newcastle and the Hunter
-
Jarryd Hayne's sexual assault trial vacated due to COVID-19, to face trial in November
-
Here are the acceptable 'excuses' for leaving your home this Easter
- Light rail still suspended due to concerns about CBD Hotel
