A judge has issued an ultimatum to Forum Finance director Bill Papas for his “entirely unsatisfactory” conduct in failing to provide details of personal assets while defending three lawsuits that accuse him of being behind a $400 million fraud.
Westpac has been ordered to pay $3 million after two subsidiaries admitted misleading hundreds of superannuation customers about the financial adviser fees they were charged, a penalty that took into account the Big Four bank’s massive profits.
Administrators have lined up a buyer for a Forum Group entity, as a first creditors meeting confirms Westpac has the largest claim to any recoveries after an alleged $400 million fraud by the equipment leasing company.
Failed financial advisor Dr Roger Munro faces up to 12 years imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud at the Brisbane District Court on Monday.
ASIC is challenging the dismissal of its enforcement action against payday lenders Cigno and BHF Solutions in a decision that found the companies did not need a licence to issue loans to hundreds of thousands of consumers.
The lead applicant in a Maurice Blackburn-led class action against superannuation provider Colonial First State wants the Full Court to determine whether group members still have valid claims, after a judgment from the Victoria Supreme Court shut down a similar class action last year.
With $254 million at stake, Westpac wants a court order blocking the business partner of Forum Group founder Bill Papas from leaving Australia, as Papas remains in Greece while fraud allegations swirl.
ISignthis CEO John Karantzis has filed court proceedings against the ATO seeking to have $4.2 million lopped off his tax bill for the 2015 financial year.
Thorn Group is the latest lender ensnared in an alleged $400 million fraud by Forum Finance, with potential funds of up to $2.2 million tied up in the collapsed equipment leasing firm.
A judge has questioned the legal disbursements sought to be approved in a $30 million class action settlement against Westpac over allegedly excessive life insurance premiums, particularly the “extraordinarily large” barrister fees charged in the case.