Director of collapsed software development house Dash slapped with ASIC ban

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has banned the former director of Melbourne software development business Dash Technologies Pty Ltd from managing other corporations.

The agency said in a statement that James Sackl has been disqualified from managing corporations for three years and six months due to his involvement in Dash and four other companies. Sackl is banned from managing corporations until 3 November 2025.

Dash was a software development business, whose flagship offering was an app called Shift. Developed in 2018, the app connected employers in need of temporary or ongoing shifts with unskilled and skilled labourers.

The company's domain name has since been acquired by an unrelated firm that is also called Dash. 

Between 2013 and 2018, Sackl also managed Ad Astra, a registered training organisation cooking school, Karma3, a business producing animal feed, Sino Resources, a migration agency and Universal, a business that found employment for immigrants.

At the time of ASIC’s decision, the five companies owed a combined total of $2.9 million to creditors, including $830,000 owing to the ATO and $118,800 to the Attorney-General’s Department in relation to the Fair Entitlements Guarantee.

ASIC found that Mr Sackl failed to comply with his core duties as a director, including that he “failed to provide the liquidator of Dash with a copy of relevant software, Xero records and access to its bank accounts as soon as practicable after winding up." 

Sackl was also found to have failed to ensure Dash and Ad Astra maintained proper financial records, including the lodgement of business activity statements and PAYG summaries with the Australian Taxation Office.

ASIC added he also improperly used his position to gain an advantage for himself and his mother by causing Dash to enter a refinancing agreement for the purpose of obtaining funds to settle personal loans. 

Sackl also “generally acted with a lack of commercial morality and incompetence" by failing to ensure taxes, superannuation and worker’s insurance premiums were paid.

ASIC also banned the director of another tech firm, Brisbane IT services provider SL Consulting, also until November 2025.