Liquidators

de Jong Read chief examined by McGrathNicol

McGrathNicol’s Anthony Connelly. de Jonge Read founder and executive director Henry ‘Hank’ de Jonge. Hank de Jonge, founder of self-declared insolvency specialists de Jonge Read, is among a group of de Jonge Read staff and former staff questioned during public examinations conducted earlier this month by the liquidator of Harker Accounting. In addition to the firm founder, executive director Ashley Shield, strategist Darren Addison, strategy…


Deed of Assignment a first for Deputy Commissioner

Minter Ellison’s Michael Hughes. Told the court he had been advised the deed of assignment with the Deputy Commissioner of Taxation was a first. Firsts are generally worth a mention and Sydney liquidator Steve Nicols has reportedly chalked up such a milestone by entering into a deed of assignment that transfers a cause of action in the winding up of Anatax Pty Ltd to the…


Sargon receivers embroiled in Federal Court disputes

McGrathNicol’s Shaun Fraser. The receivers of various Sargon Group entities and their appointors are allegedly “embroiled” in two disputes in the Federal Court”, a court heard this week. The claim was made on Monday in the NSW Supreme Court by lawyers for one set of receivers – PwC’s Chris Hill and Dan Walley – in their capacity as receivers of SC Australian Holdings 1 Pty…


Cor Cordis pair’s bold lunge for costs restrained

Emu Group liquidator Andre Lakomy. Cor Cordis’s Alan Walker. iNO generally concurs with the approach that when one stumbles at the start it’s best to decry humility in favour of a bold lunge, one aimed at re-establishing primacy in the administration of an entity’s affairs.  Unfortunately for the applicant liquidators in In the matter of Emu Group Pty Ltd (in liq) (No 2) [2020] NSWSC…


Liquidator evades removal bid – just

Romanis Cant’s Tony Cant. Romanis Cant principal Tony Cant has fended off an application brought by a creditor seeking his removal as liquidator of Foodcorp (Vic) Pty Ltd but only it would seem, by the skin of his teeth. The judgment of Federal Court Judge Neil McKerracher in Sands Contracting Pty Ltd v Foodcorp (VIC) Pty Ltd [2020] FCA 1274 outlines the dismal imbroglio of…


Fly365 “flush with cash” before liquidator appointed

Aston Chace’s Ian Niccol. Aston Chace’s Vincent Pirina. A court has heard that the coffers of failed online travel agency Fly365 were “flush with cash” only days before the company was placed into liquidation, plunging the travel plans of thousands into chaos and leaving creditors chasing up to $30 million in debts. The revelations emerged during an ex-parte application in the Federal Court yesterday brought…


Lit funder Vannin to cough up security in cash

Hall Chadwick’s Richard Albarran. Hall Chadwick’s Blair Pleash. We’re sure Vannin Capital is a successful player in the oft-times lucrative litigation funding space but two insolvency-based bets it’s made in Queensland have proved troublesome. Little mystery can attach to why bankrolling the general purpose liquidators (GPLs) of Queensland Nickel in litigation involving the company’s former director Clive Palmer hasn’t gone to plan. Palmer could probably…


Court sides with BRI pair as creditor kicks the can

BRI Ferrier’s James Koutsokos. BRI Ferrier’s David Coyne. BRI Ferrier’s James Koutsoukos and David Coyne have extracted some hard won joy from the Supreme Court of Victoria in their ongoing battle with a Japanese beverage can manufacturer over remuneration. In Re Barokes Pty Ltd (in liq) [2020] VSC 555 Associate Justice of Victoria’s Supreme Court Julian Hetyey this week sided with the liquidators in their…


Hughes bruised as Westgem judge rejects voidables

Pitcher Partners’ Bryan Hughes. Pitcher Partners’ Perth office nabob Bryan Hughes has come in for some stick in a judgment of the Supreme Court of Western Australia, which has rejected Hughes’ multiple claims of voidable transactions in respect of stricken developer Westgem. In what may turn out to be a costly decision for Hughes’ litigation funder IMF, Justice Paul Tottle said yesterday that the basis…


Grant Thornton duo prepare to tread perilous path

Grant Thornton’s Matt Byrnes. Grant Thornton’s Phil Campbell-Wilson. Having replaced Jirsch Sutherland’s Malcolm Howell as liquidators of AXF Group, Grant Thornton duo Matt Byrnes and Phil Campbell-Wilson now have the job of negotiating AXF Group’s related party labyrinth, and that’s without considering the attitude of Howell’s out-of-pocket backers, Claims Funding Australia (CFA). According to Howell’s last report to creditors dated August 4, the Maurice Blackburn-backed…