AAP
Executives at engineering firm Hastie Group transferred more than $3 million from Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, where it had up to 1,500 workers, to Australia in the days before it collapsed.
The ABC reported on Thursday that the termination entitlements of the workers were in jeopardy after the money was transferred to Australia shortly before Hastie Group was placed in administration.
However, there appeared to be nothing untoward about the transfer of the funds.
A spokesperson for the administrator of Hastie Group, PPB Advisory, said firms with international operations often moved cash from country to country, sometimes daily.
"Funds between the Middle East and Australia were transferred in the ordinary course of business," the spokesman told AAP.
"Our priority now is to facilitate re-employment of the workers, and discussions are being held with the main builders and contractors."
It had also been proposed that funds be transferred from Australia to the Middle East but the appointment of administrators to Hastie froze activity.
Funds are now frozen and are under the control of the administrator as far as the law allows.
Hastie employed about 2,000 workers on projects in the Middle East. About 500 of those workers are managed by a company based in the United Kingdom, which is continuing to operate, and no workers have been stood down.
The other 1,500 workers, which included about 20 Australians, were managed by Hastie Australia.
The spokesman also said that there was potentially good news afoot for some of the 2,700 Australian workers stood down as a result of the collapse of Hastie.
He said PBB Advisory was close to finalising the sale of one Hastie subsidiary - the spokesperson would not name the subsidiary - which would save about 300 jobs.
The 44 Australian entities of loss-making Hastie were placed in administration on Monday as the company collapsed owing about $500 million.
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