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It was almost five years ago that childcare mogul Eddy Groves paid $4 million for a house encompassing river views on a moneyed Surfers Paradise street.
Since then, the four-bedroom house has become somewhat of a nexus for childcare interests.
The links involve Viryan Collins-Rubie, a woman with documented personal ties to Groves. She's also now working for a private business, Childcare Providers, that in 2005 and 2007 cut millions of dollars worth of deals with ABC Learning Centres, where Groves is chief executive.
There are industry rumours Groves and Collins-Rubie have been a couple in recent years. Groves, via an ABC spokesman, declined to comment on this and a range of other issues.
Questions about the two and the companies' dealings go to potential issues of disclosure and connections at the publicly listed ABC.
ABC is the brainchild of Groves and his now-estranged wife, Le Neve.
Back in 1988, they started one centre in Brisbane and were key to assembling an empire of almost 2300 centres across four countries. The Groves separated many years ago but still work together.
Investor faith in ABC has slumped. Shares are off highs of $8.80 in December 2006 to $1.31.
Concerns have included questions over related-party transactions and accounting practices.
ABC says its accounts are accurate, dealings with parties are on normal commercial terms and independence checks are conducted.
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One declared in fiscal 2006 was $74 million in renovation and maintenance work done by a firm run by Eddy Groves's brother-in-law Frank Zullo.
However, ABC copped flak for deciding against further listing Zullo's maintenance work last year and Groves's small stake in the financial advisory business Austock, which is often used by ABC.
As reported this month, a new connection was struck last June when another company owned by Zullo offered a loan of up to $10.6 million to independently owned Gold Coast business Childcare Providers.
A $3.5 million advance was specifically earmarked for repaying debt to ABC. There was no conflict of interest and this was "not a matter" for ABC, ABC's spokesman said, referring questions to Zullo.
Childcare Providers is a small operator with a third-floor office in a cream building a couple of kilometres north of the $4 million Surfers Paradise house.
Childcare Providers started in April 2005.
In July that year, Eddy Groves had inked his signature to a loan with Childcare Providers' sole shareholder and director Stan Sheehan.
Company documents name him as owner of Ashmore Constructions, with the Brisbane Bullets basketball team once listing Ashmore as a sponsor which built some "ABC childcare centres".
ABC's loan to Childcare Providers of up to $9 million was to help "the purchase of childcare business" at prices ranging from $990,000 to $300,000 for 15 centres.
Two more deals were brokered in March 2007 with ABC, this time bearing the signature of ABC executive director Martin Kemp.
The deals included an advance of up to $2.6 million to help Childcare Providers buy five ABC centres at prices ranging between $437,000 and $603,000 each.
About three months later on June 29, Zullo proffered his own $10.6 million loan to Childcare Providers &em; with the $3.5 million advance specifically designated for repaying ABC debt.
By November, the Sydney Morning Herald reported Childcare Providers was to close a number of NSW centres. 26
It also reported Childcare Providers CEO Collins-Rubie was a friend of Groves and both had co-invested in a jewellery shop.
It can be revealed today the ties go deeper.
Company records show that Collins-Rubie was born in Papua New Guinea and is 45, three years older than Groves. Court documents indicate she once worked at ABC in the late 1990s.
She was also still called CEO this month by staff at Childcare Providers, which has been taken over by Neighbourhood Early Learning Centres (NELC). Company documents indicate this is owned by Zullo.
It's unclear when her CEO position began, which could be one of several significant factors in determining whether any related party declaration is required. NELC, Zullo, Sheehan and Collins-Rubie have either not returned calls or declined to comment.
Company documents note Collins-Rubie's involvement in other education enterprises. She was listed in June last year as buying a $1.13 million modern-looking home at Arundel, about a 15-minute drive northwest from the $4 million Surfers Paradise home.
She joined Groves in the jewellery shop investment on June 28 last year. Their shareholdings both used the address of ABC's glass and metallic headquarters in Brisbane's industrial suburb of Murarrie.
Electoral records nominate the $4 million Surfers Paradise home as Collins-Rubie's address since 2006.
That home was bought in 2003 by a Groves-owned company, which was the trustee for a trust whose main beneficiary then was also Groves. The trusteeship was transferred a year later to a company owned by James Black, who would become ABC's chief financial officer.
The house was put on the market last year. It was one of two documented property links between Groves and Collins-Rubie.
ABC's spokesman declined to comment on questions about homes and other issues.
"Mr Groves does not, and never has, discussed his private life," he said last week. "Ms Collins-Rubie is an employee of Childcare Providers, not an owner, so the other questions are not relevant."
In response to questions posed last Wednesday about a range of issues, ABC yesterday afternoon claimed there were "significant" factual inaccuracies but did not elaborate.
Those questions included reasons behind what ABC has and will declare in its accounts about related-party transactions.
ABC's position is that it has met all required declaration obligations. NELC also now manages centres for ABC.
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Ian Zimmer &em; executive dean of the business, economics and law faculty at the University of Queensland &em; said, generally speaking, he believed transactions involving a de facto couple who were CEOs in a financial year could fall under a related party transaction but it depended on individual circumstances of each case.
- reprinted from The Courier Mail