DC Partners (Solutions) Pty Ltd working with a financier client recently had collections dealing with an estate agent where the agent alleged it could not pay ‘factored monies’ because of Covid-19.
In December 2019, the agent factored its rent-roll management cheque for March 2020, expecting to receive around $52,000.
Factoring is the business of purchasing accounts receivables.
In this instance, the estate agent ‘sold’ its March 2020 receivable in exchange for an upfront sum paid in December 2019.
At the end of March 2020, the agent then said it was unable to repay the factor the money (or any of it, despite banking it for themselves at the end of March) “because of Covid-19“.
Factoring ‘discounts’ the purchase price of the receivable. The price paid upfront in December 2019, was based upon the time value of money with the expectations that the funds would be banked in March 2020. Obviously, the funds do not have the same value if the funds are not banked until June or later.
The agent is a well known agent from WA.
If a crime was committed, it was a crime of fraudulent appropriation. Alternatively, as was pointed out to the agent in collections discussions, the agent runs the very real risk that the estate agent continues to trade whilst insolvent, exposing the directors to personal liability. In those instances the agent’s personal assets are exposed to creditors.
If your business is in a similar position, being unable to meet obligations to creditors, there are some important steps that you and your company need to take to protect your personal AND business assets. These can be discussed on 1300-327123 if you find yourself if this position (call anytime till late 5 days).
DC Partners (Solutions) Pty Ltd working with a financier client recently uncovered evidence that an estate agent forged evidence of sales to gain a financial advantage borrowing against the agent’s family home and alleged accounts receivable commissions.
The sum of the financial advantage (Fraud) involved was in excess of $100,000.
Amongst other things, the agent inflated the sale value of the property by $1m, inserting a “$1,____,____” in front of the advertised sale price and attempted to represent that the property sold for well in excess of the sum that it did and that the agent was therefore owed a commission of approximately 3x time the sum the agent was actually entitled to.
The agent sought to obtain an advance against the said “higher” commission owed from a factoring company.
Factoring companies ‘purchase’ accounts receivable from businesses.
A commission owed by a vendor is an accounts receivable that becomes due and payable to the agent at the time the sale settles.
In this instance the property did in fact settle but the sale was at its real sale price and not the inflated price.
The crime was detected and the matter has been dealt with civilly at this time with the agent involved making good the wrongdoing.
The agent is a well known agent from the Hunter Valley area of NSW.
The crimes were discovered in early 2020.
DC Partners (Solutions) Pty Ltd says the finding highlight the stress and financial pressure that estate agents are finding themselves in and the lengths that persons in financial stress may go to when they are not thinking clearly.
DC Partners (Solutions) Pty Ltd working with a financier client recently uncovered evidence that the agent forged his wife’s signature to gain a financial advantage borrowing against his family home.
The agent was a well known agent from the Liverpool area of NSW.
The agent has since become personally bankrupt and the agency wound-up in insolvency.
The crimes were discovered in late 2019.
DC Partners (Solutions) Pty Ltd says the finding highlight the stress and financial pressure that estate agents can find themselves in and the lengths when persons are not thinking clearly that they might go to.
Sydney’s Daily Telegraph reported: Click here that Hakan began inventing sales in late 2017 however the slippery slope caught up with him when arrested in late 2019 after he could no longer shuffle the deck chairs and lenders and others began to investigate.
Unfortunately the maximum penalty of imprisonment is just 2 years and Hakan’s guilty plea will no doubt result in a discount, however we think it is a safe bet that Hakan’s (who is also bankrupt) will not be administering a trust account any time soon.
Sentencing of Hakan Kutup is expected sometime around June 2020.
Relatives of Hakan Kutup continue to conduct business in the Illawarra including:
Eren Kutup, nephew and former property manager for Hakan – is self employed at the newly incorporated EK Capital … apparently the re-birth (sometimes referred to as Phoenix-ing?) of EK Property Group Pty Ltd which was placed in receivership some time ago. EK Capital claims to provide property and financial advice, again this would no doubt involve the borrower exposing sensitive financial information to members of the Kutup family and others? EK Capital is an authorised representative of Purple Circle Financial Services, ACL 486112. Eren is a defendant also in the NSW Supreme Court, Possession List matter.
Eren’s father is Allan Kutup. Allan was a director of EK Property Group. Allan and Hakan are brothers. Allan, to the best of our knowledge is a licensed real estate agent and may have worked in Hakan’s business prior to its liquidation. Allan is recorded as working at EK Capital.
As we’ve been reporting via this blog – for the last 147 days – the so called purchasers of $8.2m of property have failed to pay the balance of around $7.4m to the liquidators of the 4 Bonny Glen companies who auctioned those properties *.
And for 147 long days, the creditors of those companies (in liquidation), in particular the long-suffering business partner and brother of Bernard Hall (i.e. Tim Hall) must have felt like our poor Groundhog Day character.
So yesterday, just like the previous 146 days, we woke up and wondered if we’d be getting a new neighbour soon (Bernard is presently an adjoining landowner)? You may call this Groundhog Day?
A good question?
In case you don’t remember the movie Groundhog Day, here is the trailer for a laugh:
As at this morning – just like the previous 147 days, we all woke up and wondered if we’d be getting a new neighbour (Bernard is presently an adjoining landowner)?
We all wondered for Bernard‘s brother and creditor Tim whether Bernard‘s company was ‘for real’.
Bona fide.
And yesterday, just like those 147 other previous days, still Bernard has not found the balance of $8.2m?
This must be embarrassing?
In closing, if you are interested in joining our class-action against Bernard‘s company Caernarvon Cherry Pty Ltd (and you think this is a sign that Bernard‘s company is weak) then please complete the form here:
Despite having been appointed almost 2 months ago, DW Advisory has not realised 90% by value of the sale of the Bonny Glen partnership properties (according to title searches of 14 November 2019) auctioned in Orange on 24 July 2019.
“NO CERTIFICATE OF TITLE HAS ISSUED FOR THE CURRENT EDITION OF THIS FOLIO. CONTROL OF THE RIGHT TO DEAL IS HELD BY WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION.”
We further understand there is an allegation that the liquidator has failed to collect 1 or more years rent from Bernard’s lessee company? Whilst there may be sound business reason for not collecting this rent from Bernard’s company (?), DCP sincerely hope the interests of all creditors (not just interests associated with Bernard Hall) are being protected by DW Advisory in their trusted role as liquidator? We understand complaints have been made about aspects of the liquidator’s conduct to date to bodies including ASIC and other regulators?
If you have any comments or information about Bernard & Fiona Hall, we’d love to hear from you including any documents via the instant chats below, through the below form or by phone on 1300-327123.
Further to our class action potential claimants newsletter of late last week, we can now advise the following (also see our video) that, according to the attached title searches:
WCMBF Super Pty Ltd is bidder 23 from the auction held on 24 July 2019 in Orange.
The shareholders and members of WCMBF Super at Bernard and Fiona Hall.
Presuming WCMBF Super is the trustee of a super fund, it is assumed that its members are also Bernard and Fiona Hall who are in fact ‘trustees’ of funds within WCMBF.
As bidder 23, WCMBF bid the following sums:
Melrose orchard, 253 Nancarrow Lane – bid $2.1m
Brooklyn orchard, 135 Nancarrow Lane – bid $800,000
The identity of the purchaser, seemingly being a superfund, suggests the purchases were not intended to be debt financed – super funds find it difficult to borrow funds even mortgages.
The failure of Bernard Hall’s trustee company to purchase those properties, after some 115 days being available to them to raise finances, which it was contracted to purchase suggests things are not good in the Hall camp ….
With:
4 related companies in liquidation,
a litigation war between Bernard and his family,
the failure to complete 4 out of 5 contracts* (with a $740,000 deposit seemingly at risk),
with a litigant seeking a judgment in the sum of around $620,000 and
other unknown issues under the surface,
suppliers and customers of Bernard’s company Caernarvon Cherry Pty Ltd, perhaps justifiably, may well have concerns about whether Caernarvon really is a going concern and long-term partner?
More detailed analysis will follow re what the above means (or may mean) to proposed class action participants.
More detailed information on the Hall’s is available on our webpages:
Another video interview by Fiona discussing the need for farm profitability. Caernarvon is well known as having delivered ‘bills’ to fruit growers who sent their fruit to Caernarvon to be packed and sold, i.e. the net return to the grower was negative after deducting Caernarvon’s packing and marketing costs and the fruit ‘sold’. It is unclear whether Caernarvon has at all times complied with the Horticultural Code of Conduct?
If you have any comments or information about Bernard & Fiona Hall, we’d love to hear from you including any documents via the instant chats below, through the below form or by phone on 1300-327123.
It seems a key assumption by Bernard Hall may be in error. Bernard is quoted by the Central Western Daily as indicating a belief that he only needed to find the ‘other half’ of the equity he didn’t presently own in the Bonny Glen properties.
Bernard Hall – when $8m means $4m
More than 106 days after the auction (as at 8 November 2019), Bernard and his company’s have failed to complete the purchase of 4 of the 5 Bonny Glen properties he bid to purchase at a cost of $8.15m.
In early November 2019, a notice to complete under those 4 incomplete contracts has been issued upon Bernard Hall making completion, at a final price of about $7.4m, time being of the essence, essential by the close of business on 14 November 2019. As at the close of business on that day (yesterday), Bernard’s purchasing companies had failed to complete.
Despite this, it is believed that Bernard cannot simply transfer those interests to the purchasing vehicles, he had to complete the purchase contracts (it is believed) hence the notices to complete.
It would appear from Bernard’s quotes (see article above) he believed he could merely just pay a top up sum to buy out his brother and parents from the properties? Did his Nuffield Scholar wife also hold this belief?
Bernard (with Fiona) is a joint shareholder and director of Caernarvon Cherry Pty Ltd and other related companies.
The family tree of the Bonny Glen and Hall family/s is below:
Hall family tree of businesses
If you have any comments or information about Bernard & Fiona Hall, we’d love to hear from you including any documents using our instant chat, the below form or by phone on 1300-327123.
Caernarvon, much to the distress of Bernard’s former partner in Bonny Glen, Tim Hall, holds a supply agreement for apples to Woolworths, yet Tim had no financial interest in Caernarvon.
Caernarvon, was able, at least theoretically, to take a clip of Bonny Glen’s (Tim & Bernard’s) apple sales to Woolworths without having to compensate Tim. Perhaps this was a source of angst between the brothers and led to the dissolution of their business partnership?
Caernarvon is a marketer and packer of cherries. To the best knowledge of DCP, its assets include a Cherry Grader purchased in 2013, additional lanes added in 2014 and virtually nothing else (according to the PPSR register). As the packer and marketer of cherries, it is expected that it will be argued that Caernarvon is in effect a merchant within the terms of the Horticultural Code of Conduct (“the code”). As such, the code requires Caernarvon to have Horticultural Produce Agreements (“HPA”), in writing, with every fruit grower it deals with. DCP has spoken to multiple fruit growers and is yet to meet a single fruit grower that has received from Caernarvon a HPA which the code says is mandatory. This could be a problem for Caernarvon in the class-action if it proceeds.
It is unknown whether this company was the purchaser of the former Bonny Glen apple grader believed to have been sold by the liquidators (of Bonny Glen). A recent search of the PPSR register of Caernarvon does not reveal any PPSR charge on the apple grader.
Bernard is the son of Fred & Pam Hall, formerly of the Bonny Glen orchard, Orange ; the husband of Fiona Catherine Hall ; and, the brother of Timothy Simon Hall.
Caernarvon’s bankers appear to be Westpac Bank who at least at present hold mortgages over a number of the Bonny Glen properties and have a security interest in Caernarvon’s cherry grader.
Present known cases against Caernarvon Cherry
DCPLH is currently undertaking a statement of claim (as at 6 November 2019) in pursuit of an alleged debt owed by Caernarvon Cherry Pty Ltd to it, as assignee. DCPLH has filed this statement of claim in late September 2019 with a defence due by the defendants who have sought extra time to file on or before the end of November 2019.
To discuss this or any other Caernarvon matter – please complete the below form, call us 7 days till late on 1300-327123 or use one of the instant chat icons in the bottom corners of this page to chat with us now, 7 days till late.
* it is understood that the liquidators of Bonny Glen have issued a notice to complete on the purchase/s of land from the auctions of 24 July 2019 by close of business on 14 November 2019, time being of the essence. Unless Bernard completes the purchase of the Caernarvon Shed, it would appear that Caernarvon may not have a going concern business or may require to relocate to other non purpose built facilities?
Don’t put off calling – chances are we’ve dealt with more complex matters previously.
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