It is understood that a class action law firm is planning to take a class action against class action law firm Shine Justice. What’s the scam?
The scam is shonky accounting, as per the story below. The question is, is this law firm breaking the law? We posed questions to them and their auditors PwC but they declined to respond. Then they came out with more of the same today when they disclosed their financial statements and the share price tanked 20%.
Shine has already been sued, and settled confidentially, for dodgy accounting practices. It is understood that another law firm is close to filing an action regarding Shine Justice’s irregular accounting practices. The guts of it is that the accounting profits that Shine reports are very different from the actual cash which comes through the door, ergo questions around the firm’s legal disclosures.
Under the Corporations Act, it is required that companies comply with Australian Accounting Standards (AASB). If they don’t, they are breaking the law. The following investigation shows that Shine Justice appears to be breaking the law. The results show revenue rose by 9% to $11lm but the Cash Flow statement confirms that Shine’s actual cash receipts during the half year fell from $95m to $87m. Actual cash at bank dropped from $52m to $23m.
Red flags abound for Shine Justice but “no win no fee” law firm no respond, nor PwC
Michael West established Michael West Media in 2016 to focus on journalism of high public interest, particularly the rising power of corporations over democracy. West was formerly a journalist and editor with Fairfax newspapers, a columnist for News Corp and even, once, a stockbroker.