Cameron Gray’s excruciating path towards terminating the winding up of Mawson Infrastructure Group Inc (MIGI) took an exceptional step this morning when the Federal Court of Australia and the Bankruptcy Court in the US state of Delaware declared that they would hear the application jointly.
But there’s still some uncertain terrain for the Hamilton Murphy director to negotiate.
With an American judge and a hoard of US lawyers dialled in via Webex, Federal Court justice Kylie Downes told the parties that both she and her US counterpart regarded the validity of various of the “overlapping” proofs of debt submitted in the liquidation to be the key question to be resolved.
Gray’s application to terminate the liquidation – already long in the tooth – would have to wait.
It’s the latest development in a winding up that’s given Gray nothing but trouble since being appointed liquidator to MIGI, a foreign registered corporation operating in Australia in February 2025 by a Registrar of the Federal Court of Australia on the application of a creditor, W Capital Advisors.
W Capital Advisors is one of the creditors whose proof will now be subjected to cross-border scrutiny.
Since his appointment Gray’s had the validity of his appointment challenged, been accused of complicity in a cabal and had proceedings for contempt commenced against him in the US.
And he’s so far been foiled in every attempt to have the winding up in Australia terminated. A key stumbling block is the question of whether there are any assets recoverable in Australia.
The end however may be in sight now the two jurisdictions have resolved to hold a rare joint hearing and orders were made requiring the parties to file their submissions in two weeks.
Further reading:
The proof issue also arises where some creditors in Australia are not able to prove under s 553 and s 553B as claims are pecuniary penalties. They remain a debt the subject of a present liability which may be claimable in USA under the Bankruptcy Code.