Petrol moguls pay $2m after empire collapses, land contaminated

A former director of Zoya Investments, Newcastle businessman Rizwan Rana. (Facebook) The former directors of a collapsed company that leased petrol stations around the country have paid $2 million to creditors. The deal was part of a settlement they negotiated with the liquidator, who had begun legal proceedings over untested claims of asset stripping from the company before it was shut down, something the directors have strenuously denied. One creditor, whose property was contaminated by petrochemicals, says he'll only get around 3 cents in the dollar of what he's owed. Link copiedShareShare articleA company that owned a network of petrol stations around Australia has struck a deal to repay a fraction of its debts for environmental contamination of a site earmarked for a local hospital, after its directors were accused of selling off the company's properties in the lead-up to its collapse. The liquidator of Zoya Investments had claimed its former directors used company funds to purchase multi-million-dollar Sydney homes, while alleging other properties owned by the failed firm were sold to family members and other companies they directed shortly before it went under. The allegations were part of Federal Court proceedings that were never tested and have since been dismissed after the liquidator accepted a settlement on behalf of the petrol company's creditors. The ex-directors, Newcastle businessmen Rizwan Rana and Satwinder Singh, have strenuously denied any wrongdoing, saying assets were sold to pay off the company's debts before it went bust, and temporary company loans used to purchase residential homes were paid back. Do you know more about this or have a similar story? Email turner-cohen.alex@abc.net.au Zoya Investments, which leased petrol stations across New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia, entered liquidation in April 2024. Just a month prior, developer Seaforth Securities won a default judgment against the petrol business, with the NSW Supreme Court finding a service station in the Central Coast region of Kanwal was leaking into their property next door. Mr Johnson says the Kanwal petrol station leaked into his land and turned it into an "unsaleable" asset. (ABC News: Shauna Foley) Seaforth was awarded $9.3 million in damages after the court heard it had missed out on a lucrative deal to sell its land for a hospital to be built due to the contamination. Seaforth was one of two major creditors left out of pocket from Zoya's collapse, with the Australian Tax Office also owed north of $4 million. According to documents filed with the corporate regulator, after the liquidator lodged proceedings in the Federal Court in a bid to recoup funds on creditors' behalf, Zoya's directors offered to pay $2 million to settle Zoya's debts and for the case to be dismissed. Seaforth director Bruce Johnson said this deal meant his company recently ended up with about 3 cents for every $1 it was owed. Property owner Bruce Johnson is only getting back a fraction of the $9.3 million he is owed. (ABC News: Shauna Foley) The liquidator accepted the settlement after considering potential defences that could be raised by the directors and the likelihood that a protracted legal action would deplete the amount that could be recovered. Mr Johnson said the settlement meant his business received only $300,000 for its debts, which is what was left after legal and liquidator fees were paid, and his land remained unusable. "The land is still unsaleable as of today and maybe for the next two years," he said. "The way I feel about the whole scenario of this is that we've been hard done by. "I feel completely let down by the whole system. It's very unfair." Wyong MP David Harris said the Kanwal petrol station was near "not only a residential area but also has a preschool and aged care facilities on the same street". David Harris says the taxpayer has been left footing Zoya's bill. File photo. (AAP: Bianca De Marchi) "I think there have to be serious consequences, otherwise there's no incentive really for people to do the right thing," he said. "If it wasn't for the fact that Mr Johnson had undertaken to rehabilitate his land, which was contaminated through nothing that he did wrong, then that whole site would still have been under contamination." The Environmental Protection Authority also issued a $320,000 fine against the Kanwal petrol station in 2022, which was repaid a year later. The now-defunct petrol station was sold to RAS Kanwal Group in 2023, which is also directed by Mr Rana and Mr Singh. The EPA said RAS Kanwal Group was issued a clean-up notice in September 2024 and remedial work is underway. Bruce Johnson's Seaforth company is owed $9.3 million, after winning a court judgment against Zoya for contaminating the land beside a Kanwal petrol station. (ABC News: Shauna Foley) In a statement, Zoya's directors said the Kanwal property was already contaminated when the

Petrol moguls pay $2m after empire collapses, land contaminated

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