Scandal-plagued Aussie travel giant loses chief legal officer

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The chief legal officer of scandal-plagued Corporate Travel Management, Shelley Sorrenson, is leaving the company after it was revealed she would resign as chief legal officer and company secretary, effective August 14. The British government is trying to get the company to accept a staggered repayment plan for fees after it emerged CTM overcharged the Home Office by up to $240 million for contracts to house asylum seekers in the UK on barges.

And the controversy surrounding these contracts is only deepening. The contracts had been awarded as recently as 2025 as part of CTM’s travel and contingency accommodation services for asylum seekers. They included the Bibby Stockholm project putting male asylum seekers on a barge as they await decisions on whether they can stay in the country.

But the loss of its legal head is the latest blow for the company. Analysts have speculated that CTM has struggled to get auditor Deloitte to sign off on its accounts, without which it can’t raise the funds needed to repay the UK government. In fact, accounting issues have also been identified within the company, with CTM this week admitting it underpaid its clerks in Australia and New Zealand by about $2.3 million.

Accounting issues have also been identified within the company, with CTM this week admitting it underpaid its clerks in Australia and New Zealand by about $2.3 million. This is just one of the many problems CTM is facing. The company has been suspended from trading since last year after it revealed significant overcharging and accounting errors in its UK/Europe operations.

CTM has also been trying to resolve its issues with the UK government over the contracts. It wants to stagger the repayments to avoid laying off staff in Britain, while the government would prefer a quick refund to put the issue to bed. If CTM can’t make the payments upfront and faces insolvency, its UK operations could be imperilled, a source said.