Stephen Michell.
dVT Group co-founder Riad Tayeh was yesterday bankrupted by order of the Federal Circuit and Family Court over a $5.4 million debt owed to the creditors of Timbercorp Finance.
The 58 year old liquidator from Sydney’s west has spent more than a decade fighting the claim, brought by Timbercorp’s liquidators Craig Shepard and Mark Korda of KordaMentha following the collapse of the horticultural scheme operator in 2009.
Tayeh recently told the court that the ordeal had taken a toll on his health and that he intended to wind back his work commitments.
At the same time the dVT partnership gave Tayeh notice of its intention to expel him from the partnership on the basis that he was facing bankruptcy.
Melbourne-based trustee in bankruptcy Stephen Michell has been appointed as Tayeh’s trustee.
Shepard and Korda meanwhile may now turn their attention to Anton de Vries, Tayeh’s former business partner and a fellow Timbercorp investor.
According to court records, the liquidators obtained orders for substituted service of a bankruptcy notice on de Vries by email on May 2, 2022 and that service was deemed effective on May 23.
de Vries however has been retired for some time, is no longer a registered liquidator and may not have assets sufficient to satisfy the debt.
In 2021 the Supreme Court of Victoria found Tayeh and de Vries were liable to pay Timbercorp’s liquidators almost $5.4 million in relation to loans they obtained to invest in the scheme back in 2006.
The pair appealed the decision, lost that case and in March this year the High Court refused them leave to take the appeal further.
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Further reading:
DVT Group Founders Facing Bankruptcy
DVT Duo Cop Whopper Timbercorp Debt
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