THE tax person’s new-found enthusiasm for pursuing inveterate non-payers continues to impress. Figures obtained from Insolvency Notices reveal that the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) initiated 568 wind-up applications during September, strengthening expectations that this year’s sharp lift in legal action to force companies to liquidate or comply, will endure. September’s number was second only to the record 582 wind-ups filed by the ATO in May…
THE sparring between litigation funder Bookarelli and its former agent Katanga Developments appears to be drawing to a climax as the two countdown to October 7, when an application by Katanga to wind up Bookarelli is due to be heard in the NSW Supreme Court. But will it get there? On September 17 NSW District Court Judge James Curtis set aside the judgement upon which…
IT’S taken 12 months but KPMG’s Damian Templeton has – with King & Wood Mallesons’ help – overturned a September 2014 judgement rejecting his application for a review of an earlier determination slashing his and former partner Phil Hennessy’s remuneration as receivers of the illegal Letten Schemes by $545,000. Last Friday the Court of Appeal set aside a September 2014 judgement of Justice Michelle Gordon (now…
IT’S ironic that litigation funder Bookarelli Pty Ltd is facing potential liquidation, given how profitable its proof-of-debt facilitation sideline appears to have been for the $1 company linked to sometime fraud investigator and Blue Mountains resident Richard Kurland. According to a September 2013 District Court judgement, between 28 June 2011 to 28 March 2012, almost $800,000 was paid into a solicitors’ trust account linked to…
SYDNEY’S insolvency profession may be interested to learn that ex-solicitor Bruce Vernon Dennis – who has acted for many liquidators and trustees in the past – has been found guilty of professional misconduct by the Council of the Law Society of NSW. In a 34 page judgement handed down today, the Council detailed a litany of breaches of statutory obligations by Dennis, whom the Council refers to as “the…
CANBERRA-based insolvency practice Kazar Slaven has been taken out by EY Oceania, a division of global professional services heavyweight, Ernst & Young (EY). In a note to clients last Thursday, firm principals Henry Kazar and Michael Slaven said the transaction would be completed by the end of the month. “We’re pleased to advise you that the professional services firm Ernst & Young (EY), has moved to…
STEPHEN Hathway, the man who with Tim Heesh established SV Partners in NSW almost a decade ago has been dumped by the firm, with clients advised of his departure via email last week. “Dear Colleagues, we advise that Stephen Hathway, Director in our New South Wales practice, has ceased to have an active involvement with SV Partners and is presently on extended leave. “Stephen joined…
HAVING recently secured a $12.35 million settlement from Fortress Credit Corporation, Octaviar Limited’s (OL) special purpose liquidator is, we are reliably informed, contemplating resurrecting a $515 million proof of debt claim against the liquidators of Octaviar Administration (OA). The NSW Supreme Court made orders on May 26, 2015, discontinuing proceedings first brought by OL’s receivers against Bentleys partners Kate Barnett and Bill Fletcher in 2014….
READ in their entirety, expert witness reports can be turgid affairs. Eye-glazing repetition. Incessant referencing of Acts and Codes. Footnotes even. But when a report’s author is cross-examined in open court and the minutiae of their conclusions surveyed, a more engaging narrative emerges. Barry Raymond Cooke is one such expert. Cooke was engaged by Pankaj Oswal to produce expert witness reports about PPB Advisory’s handling…
ANY insolvency that burns through five liquidators deserves special mention. When tens of millions of dollars – which might have been deployed beefing up creditor dividends – is instead spent pursuing a well-resourced, recalcitrant and foreign domiciled defendant, then the topic which so reliably provokes palpitations must be revisited. Fees and expenses should be kept in the limelight. Like mushrooms, they flourish in the dark….