Cor Cordis partners Ozem Kassem and Daniel Jurotawitch must continue winding up two companies controlled by Sarkis Nassif after a judge rejected the millionaire developer’s application to terminate the liquidations. Citing a lack of evidence and concerns that the companies may have exhibited “a lack of commercial morality,” Justice Stephen Robb had invited the applicants to bring fresh evidence but the deadline for that passed…
KPMG’s Ian Hall and Chris Giddens have for months been resisting calls from the insolvency practitioners’ representative body to resign as liquidators of Engineered Surface Preparation Pty Ltd and repay fees earned on the appointment. The dispute between the Australian Restructuring Insolvency and Turnaround Association (ARITA) and two of its members came to light today when ARITA published details of a Professional Conduct Committee review that…
OCTAVIAR’s general purpose liquidators Kate Barnett and Bill Fletcher were served a major setback in the NSW Supreme Court yesterday. In handing down his judgement, Justice Paul Brereton ruled that RSM’s David Kerr – currently special purpose liquidator of Octaviar Limited (OL) – can apply to extend his powers, paving the way for an appeal of Barnett and Fletcher’s rejection in April 2014 of a…
THE latest accounts for Octaviar Administration (OA) show that Bill Fletcher and Kate Barnett earned almost $370,000.00 in fees in the past six months, taking total remuneration since they were appointed to $23.125 million. The Bentleys’ pair were installed as liquidators of OA and Octaviar Limited (OL) in September 2009 after the Public Trustee of Queensland, acting on behalf of creditors, removed Deloitte’s John Greig and…
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…
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….
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….
Being cross-examined can’t be fun for any liquidator and Katherine Barnet won’t feel like the one who dodged the bullet after fronting the NSW Supreme Court yesterday. The insolvency specialist and director at Bentleys Corporate Recovery was brought in to talk about failed property investment group Octaviar. She began by getting confused about which of the two witness boxes to occupy. Perhaps the courtroom atmosphere…