Edelsten's Allied Medical in trouble with regulator

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has refused to accept four years' worth of annual financial statements lodged by Allied Medical Group in April last year, and is demanding further information.

Separately, a potential sale of Allied is made more complex due to Mr Edelsten's ambiguous relationship with the company.

Despite his close public association with Allied, reportedly worth between $100 million and $200 million, Mr Edelsten is not listed in ASIC records as a director or shareholder of the company.

Mr Edelsten said he was unaware of any problems with ASIC accepting the company's accounts. "I don't think that is correct is all I can say," he told Weekend Business.

"I've never heard that before and our auditors have never drawn attention to that."

He said all questions about the company's structure should be directed to the managing director, Trevor Thompson, who could not be reached last night.

Allied, which runs 17 clinics in Melbourne and Brisbane, has reportedly been in detailed talks with the healthcare giant Healthscope, itself a takeover target.

ASIC records show that last year, on April 2, Allied lodged financial reports for the years 2005, to 2008.

But ASIC refused to accept the reports, and it is believed that since that time the watchdog has been asking Allied for further information. The company is yet to lodge its 2009 reports.

ASIC has not taken any legal action against Allied or its directors over the tardy reports, but failure to lodge accounts within four months of the end of a company's reporting year can constitute a criminal offence.

If found guilty, company directors face up to six months' prison and a $2750 fine, while companies face a fine of $27,500.

And failing to respond to a request from ASIC for more information can attract a civil penalty of $5500.

Mr Edelsten is not among Allied directors registered with ASIC - Trevor Thompson, Dennis Thompson and the company secretary, Lindsay Hosking.

The only shareholder listed in ASIC records is Trevor Thompson.

Mr Edelsten's registration as a medical practitioner was cancelled in 1992, but this does not prevent him from becoming a director or shareholder of the company.

"There are no restrictions on the ownership of medical practices," said a spokeswoman for the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency, which this month took over from state-based regulatory boards.

Mr Edelsten was banned from practice after the NSW Supreme Court found him guilty of soliciting the known standover merchant and murderer Christopher Flannery to assault a former patient of one of his clinics.

A spokeswoman for Healthscope declined to comment on whether the company was interested in buying Allied.

Bids for Healthscope, which is being fought over by private-equity interests, closed yesterday.