An appeals court has found that two former executives of collapsed electronics retailer Dick Smith should pay the company’s receivers $11.8 million in damages for approving a dividend payment the company could not afford.
The former CEO of failed electronics retailer Dick Smith should be held responsible for approving two dividend payments worth $28.5 million which the company could not afford to pay given it owed millions in unpaid bank loans and supplier debts, an appeals court has heard.
The law firms and barristers who defended former Dick Smith directors in sprawling litigation over the failure of the electronics retailer earned close to $68 million in fees, a court has heard.
National Australia Bank and HSBC should be “jointly and severally liable” to pay a portion of the costs of a failed case brought by Dick Smith’s receivers against the company’s former directors because the banks stood to gain financially if the lawsuit was successful, the NSW Supreme Court has heard.
A judge has awarded $43 million to National Australia Bank in its lawsuit against former directors of failed retailer Dick Smith, but threw out claims against company directors brought by HSBC and the retailer’s receivers.
Former Dick Smith executives Nick Abboud and Michael Potts have pointed the finger at the defunct electronics retailer’s other directors in response to cross claims by auditor Deloitte, which is named in two shareholder class actions over the company’s collapse.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has failed in its challenge to a ruling that dismissed its bid-rigging case over mining exploration licences involving Cascade Coal and the sons of jailed Labor politician Eddie Obeid.
Two former executives of Dick Smith may seek to vacate an upcoming trial date for two class actions against the failed retailer, after recently being hit with cross claims by the company’s former auditor, Deloitte.
Allianz and a number of other insurers of Dick Smith are now facing a class action over the extent of coverage under an insurance policy for the collapsed electronics retailer’s initial public offering.