Litigation

William Buck pair not budging on Ridley

William Buck’s Brendan Copeland and Rob Whitton continue to resist attempts to replace them as liquidators of Ridley Capital Holdings (RCH), a company associated with architect Joshua Ridley that these days goes by the nom de plume ACN 151 726 224 Pty Ltd (in Liq). In the NSW Supreme Court yesterday barrister Jim Johnson acting for the plaintiff and RCH’s former business partner Corbis Global, told…


Ferrier’s pair deny foiling ACN auditors

Ferrier Hodgson partners John Lindholm and George Georges are facing genuine challenges as deed administrators of two entities from the disgraced Victorian education provider Australian Careers Network (ACN) and one of the most significant crystallised last week. Lindholm and Georges have been arguing since shortly after their appointment as voluntary administrators to ACN Group in March that proceedings first brought against group entities Phoenix Institute of Australia…


Redactathon declared as Hastie gets heated

One measure of a litigation’s intensity is the effort each side expends seeing what the other side’s got. Hastie Group might’ve been in the refrigeration business before its 2012 collapse but in regards to the jockeying that precedes a hearing, Hastie’s hotting up. In recent weeks three judgments have emerged from the Supreme Court of NSW detailing the argy bargy between Hastie’s liquidators PPB and the partners…


PPB’s exemplary sidestep as Oswals settle

This is not just dodging a bullet. This is not even evading the passage of a half-ton projectile fired from the deck of a dreadnought during the battle of Jutland. This is departing ground zero by teleportation a nanosecond before Little Boy. “This” is PPB Advisory’s seeming escape from any adverse findings, possible pecuniary penalties and further negative publicity following the termination of hostilities between…


“Unreasonable” pair to pay plaintiffs’ costs

Andrew Barnden and Rob Moodie were the subject of some less than glowing remarks this week in Lum v M V Developments (Lane Cove) Pty Limited (in liquidation) [2016] NSWSC 1248 but there are complexities that made this dispute a tough one to resolve for the Rodgers Reidy pair and an appeal cannot be ruled out. Moodie told SiN the judgment’s conclusions were not what either he or…


Condor and Calabretta sparring over costs

The new board of Condor Blanco Mines is leaving no stone unturned in its quest to recoup legal costs it incurred wresting control of the ASX-listed mineral explorer after it was placed into voluntary administration (VA) by its ex-directors. Not only is the board sparring in the NSW Supreme Court with Domenic Calabretta, whose July 4 appointment as VA of Condor the court last week ruled…


Ex-Jirsch partner linked to Condor Blanco fiasco

When Domenic Calabretta learned this week that he had never been validly appointed as voluntary administrator (VA) to the scandal-plagued Condor Blanco Mines, the focus was rightly fixed upon the Mackay Goodwin director, whose invalid appointment had taken place in circumstances which might generously be described as irregular. (Decide for yourself how irregular: Calabretta Victim Of The Curse Of Condor Blanco) With a few gigalitres under the…


Fewin fails to pin Prentice on pay

The seemingly interminable struggle in the Federal Court between Fewin Pty Limited and members of the Coshott family against BPS Recovery partner Max Prentice was again laid bare for chronicling yesterday. In the morning Justice Jacquie ‘how sweet it is’ Gleeson tossed out a leave for appeal application made by Fewin, Ronald Michael Coshott and Robert Gilbert Coshott. The applicants were objecting to orders made by Justice…


Sheahan Lock poised to replace William Buck duo

The foreign creditor seeking to eject Rob Whitton and Brendan Copeland as liquidators of Ridley Capital Holdings (RCH) has lined up John Sheahan and Ian Lock as their replacements, sources have confirmed. California-based Corbis Global applied in the NSW Supreme Court to replace the Williams Buck pair due to differences about how the RCH liquidation should proceed. Corbis, which in November 2015 won judgment against RCH for unpaid fees…


Radhika’s recollection and a suitable boy

Unlike PPB Advisory partner Simon Theobald who has been unable to recall many aspects of the Burrup Fertilisers receivership when quizzed, Radhika Oswal, wife of Burrup founder Pankaj Oswal and a major shareholder in her own right yesterday recalled with distinct clarity how the sum total of her involvement in the company’s affairs was mostly none at all. Appearing in the Supreme Court of Victoria for the…