Dishonest conduct by
Brian Benari.
Director of Lighthouse Beach Holdings 
for
breach of directors duties and
dishonesty as a company director and business partner.

Don't trust him with your annuities
​at Challenger.

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Challenger fails in bid to block website LINK Challenger shares drop 32% in 2018 LINK   Challenger funds previously frozen LINK 
Challenger behind Storm huge losses LINK   Storm victims losses caused by Challenger LINK   Advisers take Challenger to Court LINK
Legal advice on Benari dishonesty  LINK    This is how Benari will screw you LINK 
My wife's plea to this arsehole... he never replied. LINK
History of events below with links to supporting documents proving dishonesty by Benari.
This case was shown to politicians in Canberra in 2017 and was one of the catalysts for the Banking Royal Commission
Brian and Challenger Directors, if there is any aspect of this information that is incorrect please let me know.
Brian I will take this website down if you agree to independent arbitration on this case. If you believe you have acted honestly this option should appeal to you.
I believe after having business dealings with Brian Benari that he has acted dishonestly and in reckless disregard to the shareholders and business partners. I provide a summary of events below and can provide supporting documentation and further information as needed.
The companies involved are:

1) Lighthouse Beach Holdings Pty Ltd. Both Brian Benari and I are directors.
2) National Hotel Property Pty Ltd.  I am a director, our family company, was in partnership with Brian Benari.
3) Butler Constructions Pty Ltd. I am a director, our family company, was operating business and building for companies and partnerships involved with Brian Benari. Established in 1999, award winning building company with perfect track record until dealings with Brian Benari as below in 2011.

Brian Benari has breached several sections of the Corporations Act including:
 
Section 180:
He has not acted with care or diligence:
He gave Bankwest a date for repayment of all monies that was not achievable and without consulting with other directors. He with another syndicate stepped into the shoes of a cash unconditional offer to buy a property but then failed to meet the terms of that offer.
Section 181:
Has not acted in good faith or in the best interests of the corporation:
After agreeing with another director to buy the asset and then telling Bankwest they would get all their money back by an unachievable date he then went on to present an offer that was materially less than agreed. After Bankwest issued a deed of forbearance he then offered even less and when the company went into receivership because of his actions. He then dealt in secret with the receivers to buy the asset for substantially less (by $4.5m) than what he had agreed just a few months earlier.
Section 182:
Improperly used his position to gain advantage causing detriment to the corporation:
His actions effectively put the company into receivership and he then used his position to secretly deal with the receivers to buy the asset at less than what agreed. He refused to communicate with other directors at this time to try to achieve the best possible price for the asset.

Brief background:
I have personally known Brian Benari since 1987. I had considered him a trusted and respected friend and am Godfather to his eldest son Liam.
We have had various business dealings over the years and the Lighthouse Hotel was the most successful of these, Brian progressively lent up to $1.3m from May 2003 to August 2005 being just over 2 years at which time he got all his money back plus interest at current bank rates and ended up with a 50% share of the Lighthouse Beach Resort and net equity of about $6m for no cost with an income a few years later.
I was content to subdivide the property and take half each and put various proposals to him.  At a meeting in Sydney in c2006 Brian said I was being too conservative and that we should buy more and he would back things up with extra equity if needed so I agreed.
We purchased the National Hotel in Fremantle in 2007 and started redevelopment but Bankwest ran into difficulties when its parent Bank, The Bank of Scotland went broke during the GFC and I suggested to Brian that we sell. At a meeting in Sydney he said he had $3m cash in the bank and that he would fund if needed so I agreed to progress. A few months later he advised he that had a large tax bill and had purchased a farm so he was tight for money but he would sort things out. I mortgaged my house to cover ongoing building costs in the misguided belief that he would have the money soon. It got harder and harder.
Bankwest then devalued our assets by 20% just 5 months after a previous valuation and told us they were doubling their interest rate margin, they offered some funding but it was not enough.
When our problems with Brian Benari started:
I decided it was commercially too hard and that we needed to sell and go our own way or sell non-income producing assets and concentrate on cash flow. That’s when the trouble with Benari started. It has been a disaster ever since. Our Bankwest business manager, Robert Byatt, has told me he can’t believe I called Benari a friend and the selling agent Graeme Clarke of Burgess Rawson says he hasn’t seen anything like Brian Benaris behavior in his whole career of selling properties.

History of events:
(Supporting documents and contact details of those involved available and at links below)

1)  We decide to sell the Lighthouse Beach Resort to wind up an ownership partnership.  Benari says either of us should only buy if we can match other offers ( 7th Dec 2010). DOC1

2)  Get a written offer for $14m effectively cash unconditional from a third party through selling agents.

3)  Benari agrees to match the terms of that offer. ( 7th Feb 2011). Selling agents could confirm. DOC2

4) He confirms that agreement (26th Feb 2011). DOC3 

5) He tells Bankwest without consulting me they will get all their money back on 31st May         
(19th March 2011). This deadline is impossible to achieve through his subsequent actions but Bankwest insists that date is met. This action by Benari is the trigger of the receivership allowing Benari Syndicate to then buy it for $4.5m less than agreed. DOC4

6) He confirms that his offer is to leave me in same after tax position as the other offer   
​(8th April 2011). DOC5  

7) I am told that Benari has received valuations for $14m (Valuers Burgess Rawson will confirm this) and Bank funding from NAB to purchase (this document was provided to Bankwest by Benari and could be called for).

8) He provides Deeds that don’t match what’s agreed. His accountant Laurie Lapsley of Cornerstone Partners Perth will confirm they are not as agreed if required. If in any doubt whatsoever please contact him. 

9) Benaro goes back to other purchasers without telling me (31st May 2011) or Bankwest (tells us later), however those purchasers have brought elsewhere by now and can no longer purchase. Selling agents and Benaris solicitor could confirm this. DOC6

10) Benari again offers a deal on terms not matching his original agreement. 

11) He then offers even less still being $13.3m. Selling agents Burgess Rawson and CBRE can confirm. If in any doubt whatsoever please contact them.

12) Bankwest appoint Receivers including over my building and hotel operating company which has co- guaranteed the Butler / Benari loans. 

13) Benari deals with receivers without informing me and buys the Lighthouse Hotel for $9.5m being $4.5m less than what he agreed just a few months before. Selling agents could confirm. He has not acted in accordance with statutory directors duties.  

14) He then refuses to return phone calls and emails over a 2 month period see evidence 27th February 2012  DOC7  And I later find he has negotiated with the receivers to buy our property without informing me.  

15) I receive a legal memo from my solicitors Jackson McDonald that in their solicitors opinion I have causes of action against Brian Benari for fraud or negligence, misleading and deceptive conduct, unjust enrichment and breach of fiduciary obligation.  (See attached memo dated 23 March 2012). DOC26

16) He signs transfer of National Hotel for $3.6m (previously valued at over $7m and we had interest at that level as a JV when I was project managing it) without contacting me, in breach of any obligations as a business partner,  even though I had partners willing to pay more. Taylor Wooding’s, my lawyer, that partner or selling agents could confirm.  

17) Refuses to answer questions put to him regarding his honesty. (see  DOC7  14) above )

18) Our profitable successful business has been ruined by dealings with this person, this was totally unnecessary and more of the story can be seen on my Senate Submissions at the Banking Inquiry or the You Tube video now released.  

19) For a formal second opinion I have sent  documents to Lawyer Stewart Levitt of Levitt Robinson Solicitors in Sydney and have received a prima facie view that claims against Benari for breach of fiduciary duty, being knowingly concerned in misleading and deceptive conduct and dishonesty as a company director under Chapter 2D of the Corporations Act would have reasonable prospects of success.

20) My Accountants HLB Mann Judd have advised me in their opinion Benari has breached directors duties and not acted honestly. They have said it’s a setup and a disgrace.  

21) I have had advice from Ernst and Young that if Benari is convicted of these offences under Corporations Act (sect 180, 181, 182) he can’t be a director. They think case law will bring him down and they mention the business judgement rule… personal benefit etc.. Reckless behavior for own benefit). They have said this is beyond doubt serious stuff especially for someone in Benaris position.  
I mentioned my till now reluctance to Bring Brian Benari to public or other Company Board scrutiny but they said that I as a company Director have obligations to do all I can to preserve shareholder value and if this requires that I use all legal avenues to do so then I am obliged to take that action (in this case media, informing others (including other Boards) ASIC, Legal action etc).

22) Our Lawyers have requested disclosure of all communications between Benari and the Receivers, Bank and the selling agents. This request has to date been denied… (What has Benari got to hide).  I have again, in the interests of transparency and honesty, requested release of these documents but this request has been refused.  

23) Benari has been asked directly “Could you please confirm that in your dealings with Bankwest (and others) in relation to the Lighthouse Beach Resort and the National Hotel you have at all times complied with your common law and statutory duties as a director and business partner.” To which he has replied on 15th March “I am very confused as to what you are requesting and why.” This is an extraordinary answer from someone in his position.
   
Brian Benaris lawyers have threatened us with legal action if we tell others about what he has done. He is not a fit and proper person to be CEO of Challenger, the custodian of other people’s superannuation. He was reported to earn $ 10.8m in 2010 and $7m in 2011 being one of Australia’s highest paid Bankers. In such a role honesty is crucial and the above clearly shows he is dishonest.
 
Senate Inquiry:

There was a Senate Economics Reference Committee investigation into Banking in August 2012. 
 
The Senate Committee exposed in Senator Eggleston’s words “unprofessional and criminal behavior worthy of further investigation by Commonwealth Authorities” and the report has recommended “an independent root and branch inquiry into the financial system” (page 180). There are now going to be further investigations into matters regarding Bankwest and their receivers and I am going to peruse my case through every means possible to expose the injustice of what has happened and to bring those responsible to account. Others are doing the same.
 
Summary:
This case involves a company director who has effectively tipped his own companies into receivership and then dealt with the receivers in secret to buy the assets back at a price substantially less than he agreed just a few months prior. This is dishonest and extremely serious.

This story was a lead case example used in Parliament House Canberra as an example of why a Banking Royal Commission was needed. After several years of lobbying and myself working as an adviser to Senators the Banking Royal Commission was announced in December 2017
​
Sean Butler
sbutler@iinet.net.au
0419 964 487

Benari