Litigation

UK judges side with Oz Liqs over spreadsheet error

If you are in doubt about the capacity for bloody-mindedness among and within the big four accounting firms read on as iNO recounts how administrators of a Lehman Brothers entity in the UK and Lehman-associated liquidators in Australia slugged it out in the courts for almost four years over an error in a spreadsheet. The tale comes courtesy of the Royal Courts of Justice in…


“possible irregularities”: dVT duo fights FEG over fees

dVT Group’s David Solomons. dVT’s Riad Tayeh dVT duo Riad Tayeh and David Solomon are in for an intriguing tussle in 2020, with millions of dollars in fees the pair generated as liquidators of the 1st Fleet Group potentially at stake. Back in October last year the dVT pair commenced action in the Federal Court, seeking declarations that the appointment of various people to the…


Familiar old foes behind new HIH claim

Tony McGrath. Jason Preston. If nothing else the last few months have shown that there’s still enough cash left in HIH to attract those adept at throttling a profit from a corporate corpse. This week iNO listened as lawyers for class action plaintiffs came before NSW Supreme Court judge Ashley Black to progress a new claim against HIH for misleading and deceptive conduct. The shareholder…


KordaMentha to appeal Arrium decision

Arrium deed administrator Bryan Webster. It’s not too often that directors of an insolvent entity or group have the external administrators fighting tooth and nail to keep them out of court. This would appear to be the case however after Arrium‘s deed administrators flagged their intention to appeal a recent judgment which has paved the way for a public examination of former director Colin Galbraith….


Craig Walton bankrupt after GPLs examine liquidator

Bentleys’ Tracey Knight. Liquidator Jim Downey Craig Walton, a key figure in one of the most controversial corporate restructures of recent times, has declared bankruptcy a week before the commencement of a trial brought by liquidators chasing the 63 year old for a $1.65 million debt. A search of the National Personal Insolvency Index reveals Craig Hall Walton, unemployed of East Melbourne, declared himself bankrupt…


“Dirty expert” cloud has Silvia lining for BRI partner

BRI Ferrier’s Brian Silvia. BRI Ferrier’s Brian Silvia had a win in the Supreme Court of Victoria earlier this month when a judged rejected claims that he was a “dirty expert” and that a report he authored for one side in a dispute among members of Melbourne’s wealthy Auswild family should be ruled inadmissible. In mid-2013 Silvia had been engaged by several members of the…


PPB

PPB duo reunited as Reed Constructions hearing starts

dVT’s Mark Robinson. PwC’s Daniel Walley. It’s been a long time coming but the insolvent trading claim against directors of Reed Construction Australia (RCA) kicked off in the NSW Supreme Court yesterday and reunited in the court were two members of the PPB alumni. Readers may recall that former PPB favourite son Mark Robinson was appointed by the courts to wind up RCA back in…


Liquidators win $20m settlement from Merhis Corp

AIIP president Stephen Hathway. Helm Advisory’s Phil Hosking. iNO hears that common sense and self-interest have prevailed to deliver a big win for liquidators Stephen Hathway and Phil Hosking, and that means a big win for unsecured creditors of multiple entities associated with the Merhis construction group. While official confirmation is pending, iNO can reveal that the people behind Merhis have agreed to pay around…


Orders ain’t orders when receivers’ fees quadruple

Sean Wengel of William Buck NSW. When a court orders receivers’ fees be capped at $30,000 and they subsequently bill for $200,000, you know something somewhere has gone way way wrong. In the matter of Shanmugathaas & Anor v Paramanirupan & Ors [2019] NSWSC 1219 we may be seeing another example of how the new powers bestowed upon creditors by ILRA 2016 will sometimes generate…


Liquidator appeals partnership finding

CRS Warner principal Anthony Warner Insolvency Experts’ principal Steve Kugel. It’s almost right on five years since they split but Anthony Warner and Steve Kugel remain locked in litigation over the proceeds of their partnership, which was dissolved in spirits of acrimony in 2014. The latest round in this battle has Warner appealing the October 2018 judgment of Justice Guy Parker, who found that the…