Our coverage in Robinson’s Reed Blitz Could Attract FEG Attention prompted PPB Advisory partner Mark Robinson to counter with information he believes extinguishes any suggestion that the Commonwealth via the FEG Recovery Unit might be entitled to consider it has a priority claim on funds recovered so far. Robinson pointed out that when Reed’s directors placed the company into voluntary administration (VA) back in June 2012, Ferrier…
Those practitioners considering a holding DoCa would be advised to consider the decision this morning of the High Court of Australia to grant special leave in the matter of Mighty River International Limited V Hughes & Ors. The Hughes in this matter is Pitcher Partners’ Bryan Hughes, who along with colleague Daniel Bredenkamp has been battling Mighty River’s director, Australian-Chinese businessman Yuzheng “Eugene” Xie over the Mesa Minerals deed of…
It seems that when a liquidator applies to the court for approval of his or her remuneration, advising the judge that you’re offering a big discount doesn’t harm your chances. In Deputy Commissioner of Taxation v Addwealth Financial Services Pty Ltd (in liq) [2018] FCA 96 we learn that BRI Ferrier WA principal John Carrello sought judicial approval for fees of $25,000 plus GST and expenses for work Carrello…
Hell hath no fury like a Committee of Inspection (COI) convinced it’s been kept in the dark – just ask Derrick Vickers. PwC’s national head of corporate finance and restructuring was appointed voluntary administrator (VA) of Queensland-based Ostwald Bros Pty Ltd and two other Ostwald group entities back on August 28, 2017, just two days before the commencement of tranche 2 of the Insolvency Law Reform Act (2017). Now…
PPBA partner Mark Robinson has been running hard on the Reed Constructions case these last five and half years so SiN took a look at the most recent statement of accounts and minutes of meetings to see what he’s been getting for his efforts. Backed with funds from Pat Maloney’s Litigation Capital Management, Robinson has been pursuing an insolvent trading claim against two Reed directors, Geoff Reed and Derry Hill, who…
More than 20 per cent of liquidations could involve illegal phoenix activity according to confidential Australian Tax Office (ATO) data divulged this week by Minister for Financial Services Kelly O’Dwyer, who also laid bare the inadequacy of efforts to curb the practice and eradicate complicit liquidators during a speech to Parliament on Wednesday. The Member for Higgins addressed the House of Representatives on the underlying purpose of the…
It doesn’t matter how superbly well prepared the tucker is if you’re drowning in expenses and in the case of Brisbane-based celebrity chef Brad Jolly he’s faced two inimical forces in his efforts to keep Brisbane institution Alchemy afloat. One is the Australia Tax Office, which slapped Jolly’s Hemisphere Restaurant & Bar Pty Ltd with a winding up notice yesterday after commencing recovery proceedings last month in the Federal Court. A…
Some of the lawyers among SiN’s readers may have already seen the “vague statements” proffered by defendants in Fortune Technology Fund Ltd v Premier Eastern Energy Ltd [2018] WASC 35 (7 February 2018). in their attempts to adjourn the hearing of a winding up application. The parties had agreed to a timetable in December last year but when the matter came before Judge Craig Sanderson for hearing…
Late last year we brought you a story that exemplified disruption in insolvency – to wit the attempt by creditor activist group Subbies United to dislodge Grant Thornton’s Michael McCann and Said Jahani from their positions as joint voluntary administrators (VAs) of construction group CRCG-Rimfire. Subbies United’s raison d’etre is that director’s picks are kryptonite. They can’t be trusted if the director selected them. Best install…
It’s four years since Steve Kugel severed his association with Anthony Warner and walked out of their lucrative partnership CRS Warner-Kugel. Although the blood’s all bad the two liquidators will be compelled to occupy the same relatively confined space when Kugel’s case against Warner is heard in the NSW Supreme Court. The hearing was due to kick off this week but an amended statement of claim filed by Kugel though…