The former CEO of failed coconut water venture CoCo Joy, which once sponsored the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles NRL team, faces charges he managed the company while disqualified due to bankruptcy.
Struggling mining firm Griffin Coal has been ordered to pay $5.1 million to liquidators of a collapsed mining services company after a judge found it had breached a contractual term not to trade while insolvent.
Lawyers running the scandal-ridden Banksia class action have been struck from the roll of practitioners, will face criminal investigation and must pay group members $11.7 million in damages.
It has been described as the darkest chapter in Victoria’s legal history, an exemplar of all that is terrible with class actions in Australia. A case of greedy lawyers who found their golden egg in a group of retirees who had lost their life savings, never thinking the chickens might come home to roost. Until now.
Dick Smith’s former CFO will appeal a $43 million judgment in favour of National Australia Bank over his role in the retailer’s collapse.
Westpac wants Forum Finance founder Bill Papas held in contempt of court, but the bank has hit a snag in serving its motion on the missing Papas, saying he dropped his lawyers without telling them the address of his current residence in Greece.
A $78 million class action against National Australia Bank and Walton Construction seeking compensation for sub-contractors after the company’s collapse has halted as lawyers scramble to comply with the managed investment scheme requirements for funded class actions implemented by the Morrison government.
A judge has issued a stern warning to litigation funders seeking to take a “gamble” on pending court proceedings, ruling they could be held liable for costs if their intervention proves critical to the advancement of the case.
A Forum Finance director is unable to file a defence against Westpac’s $400 million fraud case because his former solicitor has refused to hand over case files to his new lawyers until he pays a “remarkable” $300,000 legal bill, a court has heard.
The NSW Police have commenced an investigation into Forum Finance and director Bill Papas, which have been accused by Westpac, French investment bank Societe Generale and Japanese bank SMBC of a $400 million fraud.