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…
IT is SiN’s opinion that the term ‘farcical’ might just creep into the general discourse around a senate inquiry when much of a session is dominated by the inquiry’s architect busting attendee’s testicles. The session in question took place when the Senate Economics References Committee’s Inquiry into Insolvency in the Construction Industry rolled into Sydney. Leftwing Senator and unionist Doug Cameron, who is driving the…
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….
Katherine Barnet leaving the Supreme Court Photo: iNO ImagesSUPREME Court Acting Justice Peter Young has spiked the punch at the Octaviar liquidators’ ex-parte party. In a recent judgement the judge criticised liquidators Kate Barnet and Bill Fletcher for a lack of candour, branded Barnet’s performance during cross-examination as “so vague as to be of little value” and rejected the Bentley pair’s attempts to repel interlocutories…
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…