Missing Sydney businesswomen Melissa Caddick was “meticulous and systematic” in generating fake financial records but never made a single investment, pocketing tens of millions of dollars from unwitting family and friends, liquidators say.
A judge has signed off on a settlement in two shareholder class actions against clothing retailer Surfstitch, but has capped the legal costs and commissions sought by the litigation funders after finding the law firms behind the cases sent out notices to group members that were “misleading” and “understated” the risks of joining the class.
Creditors of the company run by missing Sydney businesswoman Melissa Caddick are unlikely to recoup their investments, with a court hearing the accused fraudster has just $5,600 in her bank accounts.
Two Clive Palmer companies have again been blocked from accessing documents held by two law firms and a litigation funder to pursue a potential lawsuit against Queensland Nickel, with an appeal court dismissing the bid as “unmeritorious”.
A judge will not let proceedings brought by ASIC against four former Linchpin Capital directors drag on, slamming a “vague” excuse from one of the directors, who awaits word from his insurers on whether his defence costs will be covered, that London is still in a state of “total confusion” due to COVID-19.
The liquidators of retirement village group Australian Property Custodian Holdings, which went into administration in 2010 owing $948 million, have had their proposal to compensate unitholders under a global proof of debt rejected by a judge, who called the plan vague and “unsatisfactory”.
Adelaide liquidator Peter Macks has been hit with a three-year ban after a judge found he forged documents to hinder an investigation by the corporate regulator.
PricewaterhouseCoopers is looking to shut down a class action by irate bondholders of collapsed asset finance lender Axsesstoday Limited over alleged misrepresentations in a $50 million bond offer.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission presented its misleading and deceptive conduct case against companies in the Mayfair Group in an undefended trial on Monday, while the beleaguered investment group’s director watched the online proceedings as a muted observer.
The directors of steel giant Arrium, which collapsed owing $4 billion in debts, should have known earlier that the company was in a “liquidity crisis” and was trading while insolvent, liquidators for the company allege.