JM Kelly founder took six-figure salary before $50 million collapse

THE inside story of the collapse of Rockhampton-based building company JM Kelly Group was played out in the Federal Court in Brisbane this week.

Glen Norris, The Courier-MailSubscriber only|26 minutes ago

THE founder of the failed JM Kelly Group was entitled to a six-figure salary as a consultant in the three years before the multi-million dollar collapse of the construction company.

Geoffrey John Murphy, 78, was a director of several companies in the group that were put into liquidation in 2016.

But the Federal Court heard yesterday that Mr Murphy continued to be employed as a consultant within the rest of the group that finally collapsed in 2018.

Mr Murphy told the court that he had not taken a salary for several years and some of the funds he received in the final years were payments for loans he had earlier made to the company. He was not certain of the amounts he had been paid in the lead up to the collapse of the group but his annual salary package was approximately $160,000.

Barrister Craig Wilkins, who is appearing for JM Kelly’s liquidators, produced Mr Murphy’s tax returns that showed he had been paid a salary of $167,248 in 2016, $173,812 in 2017 and a partial payment of $66,000 in 2018.

Mr Murphy was appearing in the Federal Court as part of a public examination by liquidators into the circumstances of the group’s collapse.

The Rockhampton-based builder hit financial trouble in 2016, leaving more than 400 creditors owed an estimated $50 million. The collapse resulted in the loss of 250 jobs and a number of unfinished projects including the Aldi supermarket in Rockhampton and a wing at the Rockhampton Base Hospital.

The State Government, through the Queensland Building and Construction Commission, has provided $200,000 to fund the public examination.

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