Luke Hemmings, facing phoenixing allegations and $678,000 in debt, elected secretary of Phillip Business Community association

But Luke Hemmings, 28, resigned from the post on Wednesday, less than 30 minutes after The Canberra Times asked his company whether the members of the Phillip Business Community were aware of his business history.

Mr Hemmings is facing allegations of being involved in illegal phoenixing activity in relation to two companies he owns in Canberra, with a liquidator telling the Australian Securities and Investments Commission there were five potential breaches of the Corporations Act.

The alleged breaches may have included failing to act with care and due diligence, using a position to benefit themselves or a related entity and failing to prevent insolvent trading, documents submitted to ASIC show.

"In addition to the above, the director may have breached various other provisions of the Act, which may include criminal offences that have not been disclosed in this report as our investigations are currently continuing," the report, prepared by Chifley Advisory, said.

"In addition to the above, if warranted, we may report the director to other statutory authorities in addition to ASIC."

Phillip Business Community president Tom Adam said he had become aware of the allegations against Mr Hemmings after he was elected the secretary of the association last Wednesday.

The Canberra Times asked Mr Adam and Mr Hemmings at 12.23pm on Thursday about the allegations of phoenixing and about a series of claims previously made about Mr Hemmings.

Mr Adam said he received an email from Mr Hemmings by 12.45pm, in which he tendered his resignation as secretary of the association and his membership. Mr Hemmings did not reply to The Canberra Times by deadline.

"It's disappointing for us to have that negativity wrapped around us, but it highlights the fact that probably these are things that we are investigating with new members of the committee as we go forward," Mr Adam said.

"The biggest issue we've got within Phillip is that the businesses that are here don't seem to be interested in coming together and rebuilding the community because of years of being ignored by local government. We're keen to have as many businesses involved as possible."

Mr Hemmings has held real estate agent licences in multiple states. Consumer Affairs Victoria suspended his Victorian real estate licence in December 2018 after a series of articles in the Ballarat Courier.

His Northern Territory licence was revoked in February 2019, with the Agents Licensing Board in the territory noting previous "false and misleading statements" made to renew his South Australian agent licence.

Mr Hemmings is a former Dubbo radio DJ who has been accused of using multiple aliases and attempting to fake his own death in a 2015 press release (which he later denied sending). He has been known as Harry O'Connor, Dene Broadbelt, Dean Mussillon, Nic Lloyd and Clay O'Connor.

He now runs Coceptive Consulting Group in Phillip, which provides recruitment services.

The company's website said it was "one of Canberra's most successful independent recruitment firms" and "our head office houses some of the industry's most productive recruitment consultants".

But Mr Hemmings originally ran Coceptive Recruitment, which was the trading name of a separate company that has been placed into insolvency.

"I launched Coceptive Recruitment in August 2019 with absolutely no recruitment or HR experience. It sounds crazy and I guess it probably was. But my mother Suzanne and I saw an opportunity to bring an independent agency to the market that was honest and transparent and treated people well," Mr Hemmings said in a YouTube video uploaded by the company in May 2021.

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Company documents seen by The Canberra Times show Mr Hemmings was the director of Lindsay Ellison Group Pty Ltd, which was registered in November 2017. The documents show Mr Hemmings held all the company's shares and the company traded as Coceptive Recruitment.

The company traded from a string of offices, including in NSW, Victoria and South Australia, before operating from Botany Street, Phillip.

A liquidator was first appointed for the company in August 2021. A subsequently appointed liquidator in December 2021 identified outstanding debts of more than $678,000.

The report to creditors said liquidators were yet to investigate the potential phoenixing activity, which occurs when a new company is registered to take over the failed or insolvent business of a predecessor company. They noted the similarity between the activities of the new company and the old company.

"Further investigations are required to determine the involvement of the Company's officeholders in any potential illegal phoenix activity," the report said.

The Lambert Willcox Group Pty Ltd was registered on July 26, trading from Townshend Street, Phillip, and its director is Suzanne Mussillon, Mr Hemmings' mother. Mr Hemmings holds all the company's shares, is the alternate director and secretary. The company trades as Coceptive Consulting.

Do you know more? jasper.lindell@canberratimes.com.au

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