Face time witnessing of debtor’s petition impugned

A signed and witnessed debtor’s petition was circulated to Hall Chadwick staff several hours before the sender deposed to having witnessed it a court has heard.

“At 10:43 that morning you had already circulated the debtor’s petition with your signature as witness yet in your affidavit you said it wasn’t until 11:43am that morning that you commenced the call that led to the witnessing. Do you agree it couldn’t have occurred in the way you deposed?” Christian Juebner KC.

Former Hall Chadwick supervisor Jessie Low was being cross-examined in the Federal Court yesterday as part of an application to annul the bankruptcy of China-domiciled single mother Lu “Anna” Li.

The application is being brought by Gongwei Fu, who in September 2025 obtained Supreme Court of Victoria recognition of a judgment debt against Li in his favour from the Qingxiu District People’s Court of Nanning City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China and dated 30 June 2023. See: Fu v Pang & Anor [2025] VSC 597.

Li owes Fu more than $7 million in principal and interest. Fu sought recognition of his debt in Australia because Li is the registered proprietor of a residence in Balwyn Victoria valued at $11.3 million.

Shortly after Justice Andrew Watson’s decision on September the 16th, 2025 and his refusal to impose a 28 day stay, Li was in contact with Hall Chadwick partner Alex Siu seeking to arrange a debtor’s petition.

She was told she’d need to deposit $33,000 before the documents could be lodged with the Official Receiver. Low who speaks Mandarin was to be Li’s primary contact point.

Fu is seeking an annulment on the basis the petition was defective and should never have been presented.

That contention is based on contemporaneous records which appear to contradict the events of September 23, 2025 as deposed to in Low’s affidavit dated August 21, 2026.

Armed with the records of emails and a three way conversation between Li, Low and Siu on the We Chat messaging application King’s Counsel Christian Juebner grilled Low on the discrepancy.

“At 10:43 that morning you had already circulated the debtor’s petition with your signature as witness yet in your affidavit you said it wasn’t until 11:43am that morning that you commenced the call that led to the witnessing. Do you agree it couldn’t have occurred in the way you deposed?”

Low insisted her affidavit was based on her best recollection of the events while conceding she could be mistaken.

Juebner told the court the We Chat records show that after Li deposited $20,000 with Hall Chadwick Siu reminded her that the petition and supporting documentation wouldn’t be lodged until the full amount was paid.

“Your supposedly witnessed debtors petition already existed at 9:25am on the 23rd of September,” Juebner told Low, adding that this was four minutes after Li confirmed she had paid the final $13,000.

“I don’t remember,” Low said. “I may have been confused as to the timing but I was pretty sure I had a video call that day,” she said.

This morning Juebner told the court that apart from Fu, the other creditors to the estate are Li’s nephews and nieces, to whom she allegedly owes millions.

“We certainly don’t accept these (claims) as legitimate,” Juebner said. These are not arms length trading entities.”

Hall Chadwick’s John Shanahan and Matt Vines who were appointed as trustees of Li’s bankrupt estate neither supported nor objected to Fu’s application. Justice Michael O’Bryan reserved his judgment.

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