Barry Wight.
When you’ve identified potential claims worth hundreds of millions, being unfunded in a liquidation isn’t all gloom.
Appropriately pimped, such claims are thrice refined chum for litigation funding sharks, particularly when said claims stack up against those with assets, reputation-reliant businesses and professional indemnity insurance.
Which brings us to Cor Cordis duo Jeremy Nipps and Barry Wight, who we learned on Monday have succeeded in upending their unfunded status in their capacities as liquidators of the Ponzi scheme otherwise known as the i-Prosperity Group (IPG).
As an aside iNO always thought I-Prosperity founder and AFP eluder Meng Hong Gu meant something else when he incorporated and named the company back in 2010. My Prosperity for instance.
Certainly the high-rolling absconder has done better than most associated with the failed venture, which was placed into administration back in August 2020.
But for Nipps and Wight winning approval in the Federal Court to enter into a litigation funding agreement with LCM Funding Pty Ltd (LCM) has paved the way for them to potentially pursue multiple entities and individuals, including Sydney lawyer John Landerer.
In reasons published this week Federal Court judge Michael O’Bryan said that Nipps and Wight had identified claim against Landerer and Regina Equities Pty Ltd relating to a loan owed by Regina Equities of approximately $3.4 million.
Regina Equities is controlled by Landerer and his wife Michelle. It is in turn controlled by Ganeden Investments Pty Ltd, in which the couple are majority owners with their accountant John Leece holding a minority stake.
In Nipps (liquidator), in the matter of i-Prosperity Pty Ltd (in liq) [2024] FCA 1527 Justice O’Bryan said the Regina Equities loan “apparently relates to the Chatswood Central Shopping Centre payments. The Regina Equities loan was then allegedly assigned to Mr (David) Gong on or around 17 January 2020 for the alleged consideration of only $1 million”.
According to evidence provided to the court by the liquidators Gong received $18 million in payments during 2020 from IProsperity Underwriting Pty Ltd, which is listed as the eight plaintiff in the funding application proceedings.
Nipps and Wight have also identified further claims against Gong Capital Pty Ltd and/or Sino Pty Ltd, which the judge said were two related companies of Gong, with the payments “relating to payments made by I-Prosperity Limited and IProsperity Underwriting Pty Ltd in relation to Gong Capital’s acquisition of the valuable leasehold for the Chatswood Central Shopping Centre. The potential quantum of the claims is approximately $5 million”.
Last year Landerer and Gong unsuccessfully opposed an application by Nipps and Wight to extend the deadline for making applications under s 588FF(1) of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) (the Act) in respect of the claims, with the pair arguing that any extensions the court was prepared to grant should include carve outs to exclude them from future pursuit.
In those proceedings Landerer “claimed that the ongoing spectre of litigation by the Liquidators involving his firm was responsible for his inability to obtain top up insurance (other than very limited top up insurance at a very high premium)”.
In reports to creditors Nipps and Wight have described how Landerer was engaged to provide legal advice to Gu and IPG and how he’d borrowed more than $9 million from the group.
In a related matter Landerer has described how he was duped by Gu into transferring $30 million of funds from Hong Kong-listed investment fund ZACD Group out of his firm’s trust account.
With the funding deal along with retainer and fee agreements with Norton Rose Fulbright Australia now locked in Nipps and Wight can be expected to deploy quickly given the aforementioned extensions expire in March and July this year and originating processes should already have been filed.
According to media reports Landerer has previously described the claims Nipps and Wight have formulated as “all bullshit”. He did not respond to requests for comment.
Further reading:
i-Prosperity giving Cor Cordis plenty to chew on
I-Prosperity liquidators cop discount, criticise leaks
i-Prosperity liquidators win funding but miss on fees
Be the first to comment on "Stalking liquidators close in on lawyer"