Insolvencies involving incorporated associations are always a bit different but the case of St Gregory’s Armenian School Inc is a standout. Rod Sutherland, the now retired co-founder of Jirsch Sutherland, was appointed liquidator of the association in June 2010 after six of the school’s teachers said they hadn’t been paid and initiated a winding up. Lender the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) realised about $7 million from the…
FTI’s John Park and his former colleague Ginette Muller are still trying to wipe off some of the opprobrium that attached itself to them after an August 2013 decision containing uncomplimentary remarks about their handling of the administration of LM Investment Management Ltd (LMIM), responsible entity for the LM First Mortgage Income Fund (FMIF). The remarks were made in proceedings which among other things saw BDO’s…
It didn’t require a psychic to foretell that BBY’s diverse bunch of creditors might at some point tire of the court-imposed regime for assessing the liquidators’ mounting fees and look to summon forth their own mechanism of restraint. A sign of that came on Monday in the NSW Supreme Court when legal representatives for the liquidators and BBY’s various classes of former clients and creditors –…
If you thought that the liquidation of the Octaviar group is cursed given the the welter of dispute and litigation that has dogged this administration since the original liquidators were replaced back in 2009, then you are of course forgiven. Nor would you be admonished if you expressed no surprise whatsoever on learning that the incumbent liquidators are currently locked deep in a dispute with…
It’s not every insolvency practitioner who’s accused of connivance in a conspiracy so grand that the federal executive lies at its heart but for John Park, it’s not just fake news, it’s not even new. Where do I start,?” Park said yesterday when SiN rang to discuss the latest incendiary affidavit authored by former member of parliament and owner of the Yabulu Nickel Refinery, Clive Palmer. “Every…
It seems the settlement that Octaviar’s liquidators extracted from KPMG in 2016 – with the help of a litigation funder – hasn’t quelled this tortured liquidation’s capacity to infect parties involved with discontent, rancour and litigious intent whilst simultaneously delivering millions in fees to the appointees and their advisers. KPMG settled a class action with unit holders in Octaviar’s Premium Income Fund (PIM) in 2015 and the…
The demolition of the liquidator’s exit plan could not have been more sweeping or complete. In 500 plus paragraphs delivered on Monday, Justice Greg Parker of the Supreme Court of South Australia dismissed every argument of Adelaide liquidator Nick Orfanos in a battle commenced a decade ago. Orfanos, accountant Michael Michaels and Willem (Bill) Ouwens, who as well as being an accountant is the Honorary Consul for the…
First it was the DIRRI. Then the supplementary DIRRI. And now it’s the report to creditors. When it comes to TEN Network Holdings, voluntary administrators KordaMentha can scarcely issue a document that isn’t analysed by TEN’s unsuccessful bidders in the hope that some perceived misstep, omission or flaw will deliver the opportunity they need to reverse the consequences of their own miscalculation. This week we’ve seen…
Here’s an unholy shemozzle for the Federal Court to exorcise. Two banks, each with multi-million dollar exposures to separate companies within the same group. Four appointees, installed at some point as either receivers or liquidators of various companies within said group. Add the main shareholder and director, who’s defending one bank’s attempts to bankrupt him. Toss in ASIC. Season with allegations that receivers took possession…
Over in the West this week, Pitcher Partners’ Bryan Hughes and Daniel Bredenkamp failed in their latest attempt to extinguish liability claims being pursued by US energy outfit Blue Sky Offshore Services. The Pitchers pair had applied to the Supreme Court of West Australia for summary judgment against Blue Sky on the basis that its claims against them were not arguable and had no realistic chance…