Former Strathfield Group chairman in further tangles Rebecca...

Former Strathfield Group chairman in further tangles Rebecca Urban From:
The Australian January 21, 2010 12:00AM

?THE businessman whose job it is to return the fallen Strathfield Group to the sharemarket has been embroiled in the collapse of a purported stockbroking outfit.
Khan Stockbroking, owned and operated by Rizwan Khan, of Sydney, owes creditors close to $4 million.

They include Strathfield chairman Vaz Hovanessian and several associated companies.

Mr Hovanessian was a director of Fairstar Resources until Monday, when he resigned hours before shareholders were to vote on his removal from the board.

It is understood Fairstar Resources is on the creditors' list, seeking the return of more than $200,000 in fees relating to a capital raising conducted by Khan Stockbroking in 2008.

Broad Investments, where Mr Hovanessian is executive chairman, also claims to be owed money.

A report issued by the original liquidators, Anthony Warner and Steven Kugel, since replaced by Hall Chadwick at the request of creditors, reveals that Mr Khan attributed the company's collapse in July to the global economic downturn.

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And "excessive interest payments that were to be paid to the investors of the company" were also blamed.

Khan Stockbroking is not a registered participant on the Australian Securities Exchange, and according to the database of the Australian Securities & Investments Commission, neither the company nor Mr Khan have or have held an Australian Financial Services Licence.

And, despite the company's close relationship with several ASX-listed companies, it is not clear whether its operations required it to obtain a financial services licence under the Corporation Act.

The company has managed to secure a range of assignments from entities associated with Mr Hovanessian over recent years.

According to Broad Investments' 2008 annual report, Khan Stockbroking was holding the company's shares in a third-party entity in trust and at the request of Broad Investments, and the firm was to sell the shares with the aim of netting Broad Investments a profit of $180,000.

Three months after Mr Hovanessian was appointed to Fairstar's board in March 2008, Khan Stockbroking was hired to undertake a capital raising.
It picked up 8.9 million shares and twice as many options on behalf of clients.

It is understood also that Mr Khan provided Mr Hovanessian with advice regarding his role on the creditors committee of Opes Prime Group.

Fairstar was affected badly by the broker's collapse.

Khan Stockbroking has held major stakes in the publicly listed E-Com Multi Limited and Entertainment Media & Telecoms Corporation, now known as Nexbis.

Mr Hovanessian was a director of both companies at the time.

The pair are co-directors of a private company called Structured Products.

Mr Khan could not be contacted yesterday and Mr Hovanessian did not return phone calls.

Fairstar declined to comment on the Khan Stockbroking liquidation or Mr Hovanessian's exit from the board, which came the morning shareholders were to vote on his removal.

The chairman of Strathfield Group promised recently to release the company's long-awaited financial accounts "during the third week of January", but they have yet to emerge.

The retailer has been suspended from trading since shortly before its collapse early last year and despite its emergence from the hands of administrators, investors have yet to see financial accounts for the half year ended December 31 or the 2009 financial year.

Mr Hovanessian was appointed a director of Strathfield shortly after it undertook a controversial backdoor listing of the Swedish-based Clear Communications in late 2008.