Creditors recommend Clive Palmer's Queensland Nickel be liquidated due to debts in excess of $100m
Clive Palmer's company Queensland Nickel has been recommended to go into liquidation after creditors reported debts in excess of $100 million.
FTI Consulting says it has advised creditors to vote to wind it up at a meeting later this month, adding its corporate duties may have been breached.
It also pointed to a possible breach of fiduciary and common law duties by a director or officer of the company and certain transactions that might be "unfair".
"We have identified transactions which may give rise to successful unfair preference recovery actions," its report to creditors says.
"We have identified significant transactions in value and in quantum entered into by QN that appear to be both uncommercial and director related transactions.
"These transactions could be recovered in a liquidation scenario."
The report was handed down Tuesday morning ahead of a final meeting on April 22 when creditors will vote on whether to proceed with liquidation.
Liquidation means almost 800 workers will have access to a federal scheme to get some of their unpaid entitlements.
The estimated return to creditors is as low as 42.31 cents on the dollar, ABC reports. But that return is not guaranteed.
The Australian Workers Union was anticipating the liquidation, which it said would allow sacked refinery workers to access a federal scheme covering entitlements.
But Queensland branch secretary Ben Swan says the 787 sacked workers won't get close to the $74 million they are owed.
Mr Palmer remained confident before FTI Consulting's announcement that in the next couple of weeks workers' entitlements will be paid, but did not say under what circumstances.
Calls for liquidation come after a harrowing 24 hours for the Queensland MP following reports made by ABC's Four Corners he acted as a shadow director of Queensland Nickel, despite officially stepping down as a listed director in 2013 and in the lead up to its financial collapse.
Mr Palmer said Queensland Nickel was the manager of a joint venture between two of his other businesses, QNI Metals and QNI Resources.
He was on a six-member joint-venture committee in charge of approving Queensland Nickel's expenditure.
But he denied Queensland Nickel didn't donate to his Palmer United Party or make hefty payments to other companies he owns, including $2.5 million to his Mineralogy enterprise and $350,000 to his resort at Coolum.
"No. That committee didn't," Mr Palmer said on Sunrise during a fiery exchange with host David Koch.
"Queensland Nickel has no assets, no funds. Those funds are the funds (of) my private companies, who are the joint-venture partners running this. That's what happened."
He added: "It's been joint-venture money in donations and I own the joint-venture companies 100 per cent. That's my money."
Mr Palmer faces a probe by the corporate watchdog and Queensland Nickel's administrators into whether he acted as a shadow director before the company ran into strife.
He's strenuously denied claims he was secretly pulling the strings, and says there's nothing suspicious about his use of an email alias in the name of Terry Smith.
The name was used it to book restaurants and avoid unwanted media attention and Mr Palmer argued it was always clear to Queensland Nickel staff who Terry Smith was because these messages were signed "Clive".
In an interview on ABC's Lateline Monday night, Mr Palmer said he always signs his name, "Clive: C-L-I-V-E."
Morning news break - April 12
