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Demandem Holdings Pty Ltd & Anor v Christou [2011] FMCA 489 (24 August 2011)
Last Updated: 31 August 2011
FEDERAL MAGISTRATES COURT OF AUSTRALIA
DEMANDEM HOLDINGS PTY LTD
& ANOR v CHRISTOU
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[2011] FMCA 489
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BANKRUPTCY – Contested creditor’s
petition – whether the debtor is solvent and whether the debtor has an
off-setting
claim that provides a reason for the Court to refrain from making a
sequestration order considered.
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|
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DEMANDEM HOLDINGS PTY LTD
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|
Second Applicant:
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GLENLEA ENTERPRISES PTY LTD ACN 065 274 544
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|
Date of last submission:
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1 July 2011
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|
Delivered at:
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Sydney, via telephone link to Perth
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Delivered on:
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24 August 2011
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REPRESENTATION
Solicitors for the
Applicant:
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Mr M Bennett Bennett + Co Solicitors
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Solicitors for the Respondent:
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Mr A Rumsley Commercial Disputes Lawyer
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ORDERS
(1) The estate of Nick Christou be sequestrated.
(2) The petitioning creditor’s costs, including reserved costs, be taxed
and paid in accordance with the Bankruptcy Act 1966 (Cth).
(3) The Court notes that the date of the act of bankruptcy is 9 February
2011.
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FEDERAL MAGISTRATES COURT OF AUSTRALIA AT
PERTH
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PEG 59 of 2011
DEMANDEM HOLDINGS PTY LTD
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First Applicant
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GLENLEA ENTERPRISES PTY LTD ACN 065 274 544
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Second Applicant
And
Respondent
REASONS FOR JUDGMENT
Introduction and background
- The
applicant (Demandem) proceeds on a creditor’s petition presented on 16
March 2011. The petition states that the respondent
(Nick Christou) owes
Demandem $27,600.62 based upon a judgment of the Supreme Court of Western
Australia dated 28 March
2008[1] plus interest of
$13,302.20 as set out in bankruptcy notice WA 136/2010. Demandem is an
unsecured creditor. The petition is supported
by the affidavits contained
within Part 2 of it verifying its contents.
- The
petition is further supported by the affidavits of Maria Eva Worthington made on
14 March 2011 and two made on 31 May 2011, the
affidavit of service of Cheryl
Lorraine Harrison made on 31 March 2011, the affidavit of Keith Graeme Lingard
made on 11 April 2011,
the affidavits Neil Kevin Joyce made on 15 April 2011 and
6 May 2011 and the affidavit of Darren Kurt Zusman made on 2 March 2011.
- The
petition is opposed by Mr Christou, who relies upon an amended Notice Stating
Grounds of Opposition to the Petition filed on 27
April 2011 as
follows:
- Mr
Christou relies upon his own affidavits made on 12 and 27 April 2011.
- None
of the deponents were required for cross-examination.
Consideration
- There
is no challenge to the validity of either the bankruptcy notice or the
creditor’s petition. Prima facie, Demandem is entitled to the
relief sought in the petition. The dispute between the parties arises from the
grounds of opposition
to the petition which involve claims of solvency and
set-off. Mr Christou deposes to assets in excess of $4.5 million in his
affidavits.
Mr Christou further submits that the judgment supporting the
petition establishes a liability in his favour of $122,399.38 net of
interest
which this Court has previously found could be set-off against the judgment debt
in favour of
Demandem[2]. However,
in subsequent proceedings concerning an additional set-off claim by Mr
Christou[3] Federal
Magistrate Raphael found that Mr Christou’s right to be paid by Demandem
did not come into existence until he paid
the debt due to Demandem, so that
there was no further right of set-off.
- Nevertheless,
Mr Christou submits that the discretion provided by s.52(2)(b) of the
Bankruptcy Act 1966 (Cth) (“Bankruptcy Act”) is a broad one
sufficient to recognise that substantial justice is best done by reducing the
indebtedness of Mr Christou
to reflect the net effect of the orders of the
Supreme Court. He submits that as Demandem is required to pay Mr Christou
$50,000
on receipt of $150,000 from him, the established set-off of $122,399.38
more than accounts for the debt due to Demandem. Put simply,
Mr Christou
asserts that there is more money owing to him by Demandem than he owes to
Demandem.
- As
to solvency, Mr Christou claims an interest in a residential property at City
Beach in Perth jointly with his wife and he gives
a valuation for that property
of $2.4 million. However, Mr Christou’s interest is as a beneficiary of a
trust and the legal
title to the property is in Mrs Christou’s name.
While I have evidence of the trust it is not sufficient to persuade me that
Mr
Christou will be able to access his equitable interest in the property within a
reasonable time.
- Mr
Christou is one of three partners in an accounting partnership. The other two
partners are Keith Graeme Lingard and Neil Kevin
Joyce. Mr Joyce is the
director of Demandem. Mr Christou has been in dispute with Mr Lingard and Mr
Joyce since 2001 and in litigation
with them since 2003 in this Court, the
Federal Court and the Supreme Court of Western Australia. The partnership was
valued in
2002 at $8 million. It has not been wound up. Mr Christou asserts
that his share of the partnership as valued in 2002 is $2,666,666.
On 28 March
2008 Beech J made declarations in the Supreme Court of Western Australia in
relation to Mr Christou’s entitlement
to distributions of income under
trusts controlled by companies in respect of which Mr Lingard and Mr Joyce and
he are directors
in the amount of $747,954.19. Mr Christou has not received the
distributions of income. However, in the same orders Beech J ordered
the
winding up of the partnership (which has not occurred) which would seem to be a
necessary step in dealing with the distributions
from the partnership required
by the Supreme Court. The orders made by the Court also included costs orders
against Mr Christou
and the orders for principal and interest supporting the
creditor’s petition. Those orders do not, on their face, establish
an
asset available to Mr Christou now or within a reasonable time in order to
discharge his debts. Mr Christou asserts other assets
of approximately $35,000
(including shares) but his evidence as to his assets does not persuade me that
he is solvent.
- At
the trial of this matter on 1 June 2011 I invited Mr Christou to support his
claim of solvency by payment into court of the amount
due to Demandem. He gave
an undertaking to pay into court the amount of $40,902.82 within 28 days. Mr
Christou paid that sum into
court on 27 June 2011. I also gave the parties the
opportunity to file further evidence and submissions after the trial of the
matter.
A further affidavit by Ms Worthington made on 28 June 2011 was filed on
the same day. That establishes an additional costs liability
owed by Mr
Christou of
$165,660.71[4]. There
are, in addition, other liabilities which Mr Christou shares with the company
Corporate Systems Publishing Pty Ltd (CSP)
arising out of other litigation.
- Having
regard to the now crystallised further debts that have been identified, I find
that, notwithstanding the payment into court,
Mr Christou has failed to
demonstrate solvency.
- In
relation to the second ground of opposition to the petition, it is necessary to
review the circumstances surrounding the Supreme
Court judgment supporting the
petition and the consequences of that judgment. In the 2010 proceedings in this
Court Federal Magistrate
Raphael found that the bankruptcy notice then in issue
overstated the debt due to Demandem and dismissed the creditor’s petition
before him. Relevantly, at [3]-[9] his Honour said:
- In this
particular case, the debt which is the subject matter of the bankruptcy notice
was for the sum of $213,443.88 being made
up of a principal sum of $150,000.00
plus interest. The principal sum of $150,000.00 was payable to the applicant
creditors by virtue
of a judgment of Beech J in the Supreme Court of Western
Australia filed on 21 April 2008. Those orders came at the end of a lengthy
hearing before his Honour involving claims and cross-claims between three
partners of an accounting practice. The creditors in the
bankruptcy proceedings
are two companies owned by two of the partners and the debtor is the third
partner personally.
- The order
of Beech J that I have referred to was not the only order that his Honour made.
He also made orders that a company known
as Stanton Partners Australasia Pty Ltd
(“SPA”) pay to the debtor the sum of $122,399.38 plus interest which
he had calculated
up to judgment as $42,212.70. By the time the matter came to
this Court, the amount owed by Mr Christou to the creditors was $200,523.29
and
the amount owed by SPA to Mr Christou was $164,612.
- Mr Christou
argued that the amount owed was incorrect because, inter alia, there was
impressed upon the sum of $200,523.28 a trust
to pay one-third of that amount
after costs to a company from which he had received an assignment. Mr Christou
also argued that he
was entitled to certain distributions as a result of order 5
of Beech J which totalled some $700,000.00 and that because the debt
that SPA
owed Mr Christou was the subject of a debt appropriation order in favour of the
creditors per that amount could not be the
subject of the bankruptcy
notice.
- I am of the
view that the bankruptcy notice did misstate the debt for this reason. The
assignment under which the creditors claim
took place in 2005. At that time Mr
Christou had a claim against SPA, which was the management company of the firm
of accountants
in which he was a partner, in respect of the 2001 and 2002 years.
The amount of that claim was crystallised in the judgment of Beech
J. The
applicant accepts that, to the extent that the assignment was a legal
assignment, it was governed by the provisions of s.20 of the Property Law
Act 1969 (WA) which says, relevantly, in sub-s.(20)(1):
- Any absolute
assignment by writing under the hand of the assignor (not purporting to be by
way of charge only) of any debt or other
legal chose in action of which express
notice in writing has been given to the debtor, trustee or other person from
whom the assignor
would have been entitled to receive or claim that debt or
chose in action, is effectual in law (subject to the equities having priority
over the right of the assignee), to pass and transfer from the date of the
notice:
- (a) the legal
right to that debt or chose in action;
- (b) all legal
and other remedies of the debt or shows in action; and
- (c) the power
to give good discharge for the debt or chose in action, without the concurrence
of the assignor. [emphasis added]
- The learned
authors of Meagher, Heydon and Leeming, in their Equity: Doctrines and
Remedies opine at [284]:
- A chose in
action is, after all, the benefit of an obligation; and “equity”
means in this context a defence, set off
or counterclaim which the person
subject to the obligation is entitled to oppose to the claim of the person
entitled to the benefit.
The effect of the rule is that the defence, set off or
counterclaim is equally available against the assignee.
- At the time
of the assignment from SPA to Demandem and Glenlea, Mr Christou had a
counterclaim against SPA for his share of the distributions
from SPA for the two
years 2001 and 2002. That was “an equity”.
- When the
creditors came to draft their bankruptcy notice they had the benefit of Beech
J’s judgment and the crystallisation
of the equity in favour of Mr
Christou. It would have been appropriate at that time to have deducted from the
amount owed by Mr Christou
to SPA the amount that SPA owed Mr Christou and to
have issued the bankruptcy notice for the lesser sum. Mr MacLennan, who has
provided
the Court with helpful written submissions, says that the nature of the
debts between the two parties are different. In the first
case there was a claim
for damages for breach of director’s duties which realised the sum of
$150,000.00. In the second, there
was the claim by Mr Christou against SPA
itself for failure properly to distribute its income. I accept that these causes
of action
are not the same but the nature of a counterclaim, as understood in
Australian law, is that it is a claim that can be made against
any cause of
action brought by a plaintiff against a defendant and is not restricted to the
cause of action that the plaintiff has
brought. This being the case, Mr Christou
would have a set off against SPA’s assignees and if the matter had
proceeded to his
bankruptcy, his trustee in bankruptcy would have been obligated
to effect that set off so that any proof of debt which the assignees
might file
would be reduced.
- In these
circumstances, it seems clear to me that the bankruptcy notice overstated the
debt and that, as a proper notice under s.41(5) was given, the bankruptcy notice
should be held to be invalid, and therefore the application for a sequestration
order must fail.
I do not propose to deal with the other arguments raised in
this matter because I do not believe that is necessary in these
circumstances.
- Demandem
issued a fresh (and the current) bankruptcy notice which Mr Christou applied to
set aside. That application was the subject
of the 2011 proceedings before
Raphael FM. In his judgment in that proceeding Raphael FM examined the issue of
set-off raised by
Mr Christou in more detail. His Honour said at
[2]-[17]:
- This is not
the first time that the dispute between these parties has been before the Court.
On 7 July 2010 I dismissed a creditor’s
petition on the grounds that the
bankruptcy notice on which it was based overstated the debt and that, as a
proper notice had been
given under s.41(5), the bankruptcy notice should be held
to have been invalid. As the bankruptcy notice was invalid there had been no act
of bankruptcy
upon which the petition could be based; Demandem Holdings Pty
Ltd & Anor v Christou [2010] FMCA 494. In that decision I found that the
debtor was entitled to set off against the creditors an amount owed by the
creditor’s assignor
to the debtor:
- 6. The
assignment under which the creditors’ claim took place in 2005. At that
time Mr Christou had a claim against SPA, which
was the management company of
the firm of accountants in which he was a partner, in respect of the 2001 and
2002 years. The amount
of that claim was crystallised in the judgment of Beech
J. The applicant accepts that, to the extent that the assignment was a legal
assignment, it was governed by the provisions of s.20 of the Property Law Act
1969 (WA) which says, relevantly, in sub-s.(20)(1):
- Any
absolute assignment by writing under the hand of the assignor (not purporting to
be by way of charge only) of any debt or other
legal chose in action of which
express notice in writing has been given to the debtor, trustee or other person
from whom the assignor
would have been entitled to receive or claim that debt or
chose in action, is effectual in law (subject to the equities having priority
over the right of the assignee), to pass and transfer from the date of the
notice:
- (a) the
legal right to that debt or chose in action;
- (b) all
legal and other remedies of the debt or chose in action; and
- (c) the
power to give good discharge for the debt or chose in action, without the
concurrence of the assignor. [emphasis added]
- 7. The
learned authors of Meagher, Heydon and Leeming, in their Equity: Doctrines
and Remedies opine at [284]:
- A chose in
action is, after all, the benefit of an obligation; and “equity”
means in this context a defence, set off
or counterclaim which the person
subject to the obligation is entitled to oppose to the claim of the person
entitled to the benefit.
The effect of the rule is that the defence, set off or
counterclaim is equally available against the assignee.
- At the time of
the assignment from SPA to Demandem and Glenlea, Mr Christou had a counterclaim
against SPA for his share of the distributions
from SPA for the two years 2001
and 2002. That was “an equity”.
- 8. When the
creditors came to draft their bankruptcy notice they had the benefit of Beech
J’s judgment and the crystallisation
of the equity in favour of Mr
Christou. It would have been appropriate at that time to have deducted from the
amount owed by Mr Christou
to SPA the amount that SPA owed Mr Christou and to
have issued the bankruptcy notice for the lesser
sum.”
The bankruptcy notice issued on 17 September 2010 effectively does this but
it does not take into account certain other monies which
Mr Christou says the
assignor to Demandem and Glenlea owed him or a company from whom he had received
an assignment. He says that
these monies also constituted equities that would
enable a set off under s.40(1)(g) and s.41(6A) of the Act to be invoked.
The first “set off”
There has been considerable litigation between these parties in the Supreme
Court of Western Australia. On 21 April 2008, after a
lengthy trial, Beech J
gave judgment and made declarations and orders; Corporate Systems Publishing
Pty Ltd v Lingard (No.4) [2008] WASC 21. Order 10 of his Honour’s
orders was:
- 10. The
second plaintiff pay a sum of $150,000 to the fifth and sixth defendants
together with interest thereon of 6% per annum
from 20 August 2002 until
judgment in the amount of $50,523.29.
The fifth and sixth defendants are the respondents to this application and
it is common ground that their right, title and interest
in the $150,000.00
arose out of a deed of assignment dated 13 June 2005. The assignment is in
writing, expressed to be a deed and
I understand that notice thereof was given
to Mr Christou. It has all the hallmarks of a legal assignment in respect of
which s.20 of the Property Law Act 1969 (WA) applies. The operative
provisions of the deed state as follows:
- 2
ASSIGNMENT
- 2.1 The
Assignor hereby assigns the debt to the Assignees.
- 2.2 The
Assignees agree that they will hold one third of the net proceeds of the debt
after deduction of all legal costs associated
with the enforcement thereof in
trust for Corporate Systems Pty Ltd ACN 009 412 6223.
It is common ground that “the debt” is the $150,000.00
that Beech J ordered Mr Christou to pay to the assignors. It is defined in the
deed as:
- The claim by
Stanton Partners Australasia Pty Ltd against Nick Christou for payment of
damages arising out of and in connection with
the failure by Nick Christou to
sell certain Telstra 2 investment receipts.
It is also agreed that Corporate Systems Publishing Pty Ltd (ACN 009 412
622) (“CSP”) has assigned its rights in the
one third of the net
proceeds to Mr Christou. After the hearing, I noticed a discrepancy between the
company named in clause 2.2
of the assignment deed and the company named in the
decision of Beech J. In response to my request for clarification on the identity
of this company, the parties agreed that clause 2.2 of the assignment
erroneously adds a 3 onto the end of the ACN number and omits
the word
“Publishing”. I accept there is no issue in this regard and
that the named companies are, in fact, the same.
The respondents accept that the SPA assignment is one of a chose in action
and is subject to s.20 of the Property Law Act 1969 (WA). The respondents
argue that the obligation in clause 2.2 of the deed does not constitute an
equity in favour of Mr Christou
because it only attaches to the net proceeds of
the debt after deduction of legal costs and that means it only attaches to the
amount
that Mr Christou pays to the respondents after it has been calculated and
he has paid it. I have not been addressed as to what the
phrase “all
legal costs associated with the enforcement thereof” means in the
context of this deed. It is accepted that it has a very strong connection to the
costs of the counter-claim in
the proceedings before Beech J and I am aware that
a bill in the sum of $20,084.20 has been prepared for taxation. But it has not
yet been taxed and I do not know whether it is considered that “all
legal costs” mean just those taxed or the actual sum paid by the
creditors to their solicitor and counsel. The creditors argue that, because
they
have already taken into account the other set-off against the sum of $150,000.00
plus interest, one third of the balance in
respect of which they stand as
trustees for Mr Christou must be less than the total amount of his debt. He
must, therefore, be indebted
to them. That is as may be, but it is for the
creditors to accurately state the figure they claim the debtor owes them. If
what I
would call the “trust monies” are capable of
constituting a set-off then it is clear to me that the amount claimed under the
bankruptcy notice is inaccurate,
probably because of an overstatement in respect
of which a proper notice has been served or because the applicant would be
confused
as to the amount which he owes his creditors; Kleinwort Benson
Australia Ltd v Crowl [1988] HCA 34; (1988) 165 CLR 71.
This “inaccuracy”, which would invalidate the notice if
found, is separate from the claim that the set-off may equal or exceed the
amount claimed.
Because it is said to arise from equities that existed at the
time of the assignment the notice should only claim the net amount
owing. This
is what the current notice does, in contra-distinction to the first notice that
I found invalid. But the calculation
of the net may prove to be wrong thus
involving the overstatement or confusion grounds. It is for the applicant to
make this out
and he seeks to do so by the arguments considered below.
The applicant submits that clause 2.2 of the deed of assignment is merely a
reflection of the debtor’s pre-existing entitlement
to one third of any
judgment in SPA’s favour;
- the deed
merely provides a mechanism for dealing with the equity by the parties that took
the benefit of the assignment. In circumstances
where Mr Christou was at all
times entitled to one third of any judgment, that equity can properly be set off
against any claim by
SPA or any party taking the benefit of an assignment from
SPA.
The applicant’s submissions in relation to the first set-off are based
on the assumption that, prior to the assignment of the
chose in action, CSP was
entitled to one third of the judgment debt. The applicant does not provide a
reason for this though it is
implicit that he is referring to the way in which
SPA distributed income to the three partners. Although described by Beech J as
a
partner of SPA, Mr Christou was in fact a director and shareholder of that
company. The income generated by SPA was distributed
by the Stanton Partners
Trust, a unit trust of which SPA was trustee. Under this trust CSP was entitled
to one third of the income
generated by SPA. At [11] of the decision on appeal
from Beech J; Corporate Systems Publishing Pty Ltd v Lingard [2009] WASCA
158, Owen JA, with whom McClure and Buss JA agreed, explains that the partners
received payments in two ways:
- drawings and
distributions of income. The drawings were regular monthly payments which were
made to the partners against anticipated
profits. At the end of the financial
year, accounts were drawn, loan account balances were calculated and net income
was determined.
The net income would then be distributed to the partners so as
to take into account amounts that had already been advanced by way
of
drawings.
It seems to me that the applicant has confused his entitlement to a third of
the drawings and distributions of income of SPA with
an entitlement to a third
of the judgment debt. There is no direct relationship between the two. The
company is entitled to decide
how to use the $150,000.00. It may wish to
distribute this sum as income but, equally, it may wish to reinvest this money.
I am satisfied
that Mr Christou did not have an entitlement to one third of the
judgment debt prior to the assignment.
The next question to consider is the nature of the entitlement which was
created by clause 2.2 of the deed of assignment and whether
it can form the
basis for a set off. The Respondent submits that the debtor’s entitlement
to one third of the net proceeds
of the debt cannot form the basis of a legal or
equitable set off because the subject matter of the trust did not exist at the
date
of the deed. It is well established that a mere expectancy or
“future property” cannot be the subject matter of a trust and
a trust which purports to have property of this nature as its subject will be
void for uncertainty; Re Rule’s Settlement [1915] VicLawRp 101;
[1915] VLR 670; cf Dal Pont and Chalmers, Equity and Trusts in Australia
(2007). The respondents rely on Norman v FCT [1963] HCA 21; (1963) 109
CLR 9 at 26 per Windeyer J:
- Assignment
means the immediate transfer of an existing proprietary right, vested or
contingent, from the assignor to the assignee.
Anything that in the eye of the
law can be regarded as an existing subject of ownership, whether it be a chose
in possession or a
chose in action, can to-day be assigned, unless it be
excepted from the general rule on some ground of public policy or by statute.
But a mere expectancy or possibility of becoming entitled in the future to a
proprietary right is not an existing chose in action.
It is not assignable,
except in the inexact sense into which, again to use Maitland's words, lawyers
slipped when it is said to be
assignable in equity for value.
In that case the High Court held by majority that yet to be declared
dividends from shares could not be the subject of a voluntary
equitable
assignment as the sum of money did not exist at the time of the assignment and
was dependant upon the affairs of the companies
in question. I am of the view
that the subject matter of the trust in the instant case falls into this same
category of “future property”. The subject of the trust is
not a third share in the debt but rather a third share in the net proceeds of
the debt. This
is a sum which could not be ascertained with any certainty at the
time of the assignment.
The next issue raised by the respondents concerns the potential
enforceability of clause 2.2 of the assignment as a contract to create
a trust.
As there was no present right to enforce the trust, it would fail unless it was
supported by valuable consideration in the
eyes of equity. The assignment deed
which creates the “trust” in clause 2.2 nowhere mentions
consideration, not even “in consideration of these presents”.
I am satisfied that no consideration was expressed to pass for the
“trust” purportedly created.
Even if the assignment did give rise to an obligation to create a trust in
favour of CSP and hence Mr Christou, I am of the view
that this would not form
the basis of a legal or equitable set off:
Both at common law and in equity, the right of set-off depends upon proof of
an actionable debt; J & S Holdings Pty Ltd v NRMA Insurance Ltd
[1982] FCA 78; (1982) 41 ALR 539 at 554. In this case, Mr Christou has no legal
or equitable right to enforce the contract until the net proceeds of the debt
come
into existence. The only way he could come into possession of this right is
by first paying the outstanding judgment debt.
After the hearing, Mr Christou referred the Court to the decision in
Food Channel Network Pty Ltd v Television Food Network GP (No 3) [2010]
FCAFC 158 in which the applicant sought the imposition of a costs order of
$8,039.90. In that case the Court was also aware of the respondent’s
entitlement to $16,415.95 from the applicant for costs in another Federal Court
matter:
- In these
circumstances, whether or not TFN is strictly entitled to set the sum of
$8,039.90 off against FCN’s debt of $16,415.95,
the Court’s
discretion is broad enough to recognise that substantial justice is best done by
leaving FCN indebted to TFN in
the sum of $8,376.05, rather than to compel TFN
to pursue FCN for the recovery amount of $16,415.95.
I do not agree that the same exercise of discretion is appropriate in the
instant case. After having regard to the equities between
the parties, I am of
the view that there would be no unfairness in allowing the respondents to
recover the outstanding debt without
regard to Mr Christou’s claim for one
third of the net proceeds. As already noted, it is not clear what is meant by
the phrase
“all legal costs associated with the enforcement
thereof” and whether it includes the costs of the present proceedings.
As such, there is no way for me to determine the sum of the
net proceeds to
which Mr Christou may be entitled.
For the above reasons, I am satisfied that there is no right of set off in
regard to the “trust monies”.
The second “set off”
Another of Beech J’s orders of relevance in these proceedings was
order 5:
- The plaintiffs
are entitled to a distribution of their respective shares of the income of SPA
and SAA for the following financial
years in amounts which total the following
sums:
- 2003
$183,650.32
- 2004
$151,608.90
- 2005
$145,075.87
- 2006
$152,157.40
- 2007
$115,461.70
It is noteworthy that his Honour made a declaration about these sums and did
not give Mr Christou or his trustee company (the first
plaintiff) a judgment for
them. Any rights that the first plaintiff, CSP, had in respect of this
declaration were assigned to Mr
Christou. Mr Christou argues that these monies
constitute a set off against SPA and SAA that existed, so far as the years 2003
to
2005 are concerned, at the time of the assignment to the current creditors
and are thus an equity in respect of which they are burdened.
The respondents
argue that the orders of Beech J constitute no obligation of that type, that
they are no more than a declaration
by his Honour of amounts which will be taken
into the partnership accounts for the relevant years and against which
deductions may
be made before a final distribution amount is known. They argue
that the figures do not constitute an obligation of the creditor
companies’ assignor to Mr Christou and that, before there can be said to
be such an obligation, further proceedings must be
taken. Against this, the
applicant cites the views of Owen JA with whom McClure and Buss JA agreed in the
appeal against the decision
of Beech J; Corporate Systems Publishing Pty Ltd
v Lingard [2009] WASCA 158 at [176-177]:
- In my opinion,
the trial judge did not err when he ordered the payment of the shortfall between
the appellants' entitlement to 50%
of Christou's collections and what they
actually received. There are several reasons for this conclusion. First, the
trial judge
formed the view that issues concerning the entitlements under the
50% of collections formula for the financial years 2001 and 2002
were fully
joined and argued. His Honour took a different view of the entitlements for 2003
and following (see supplementary reasons
[30] - [32]) and hence made order 5,
which is limited to declarations as to fee collections under the 50% formula for
those years.
But in relation to 2002 the evidence was led and the issues fought
out. It is uncomfortably clear that this judgment may not resolve
all the issues
between the parties and that further litigation is likely. Nonetheless, where
issues have been aired and decided there
ought to be finality. These proceedings
have been on foot for more than five years; they need to be resolved. The award
of a fixed
monetary sum is more likely to serve that end, at least in respect of
one issue.
- Secondly, the
respondents had the opportunity to adduce evidence of adjustments that ought to
be made to Christou's loan account,
or debts that were owed by him to the
partnership. It should have been apparent to the respondents that if they were
to rely on the
24 January 2002 agreement as a defence, they would need to show
that they had paid the appellants their entitlements under that agreement.
Similarly, if there were issues that justified the non-payment to the appellants
of what would otherwise have been their full entitlements
it would have been
necessary for the respondents to prove those matters. They have not done so and
they cannot now say that they
should not pay sums owing under that entitlement
because there might be adjustments that need to be made to Christou's loan
account.
It seems to me that the appeal judgment establishes the respondent’s
case. Beech J deliberately did not make orders entitling
CSP to any sums certain
and the appeal court recognised that further litigation was necessary for all
years after 2002. I am of the
view that their Honours were only referring to the
2002 year in the paragraph commencing with the word
“secondly”. This view is supported by the supplementary
reasons for decision of Beech J at [32]:
- ...At trial
less attention was directed to the accounts of SPA to the 2004 and subsequent
financial years, because no claim of breach
was made in relation to those
years...nonetheless, had I found that the agreement did not give rise to a
defence of consent, I would
have been inclined to make a declaration that the
plaintiffs were entitled to a one-third share of the income of the trusts of
which
each was a beneficiary...for corresponding reasons I would make a
declaration in respect of the 2004 and subsequent years in terms
similar to that
of the 2003 year. I note that the accounts for SPA for those years suggest or
may suggest that the distribution to
corporate systems exceeded the amount to
which it was entitled under the 50% formula. The making of declarations should
not be thought
to cast any doubt on whether that is so. I do not consider that
issue was joined at trial in respect of the amount of distributions
in the
financial years 2004 onwards, so I do not make any findings in that
regard.
Besides the declarations in Order 5 of Beech J’s judgment, the
applicant has not advanced any other evidence to enable the
Court to determine
his cash entitlements from the income of SPA and SAA. I am, therefore, unable to
find that there is a set off
available on account of these sums which is equal
to or exceeds the amount claimed in the bankruptcy notice.
The findings made above mean that the applicant has not satisfied me that
there was an overstatement of the debt, that the amount
claimed in the notice
was liable to cause confusion or that he had a cross-claim, cross-demand or
set-off equal to or exceeding the
amount of the claim. The set-offs he now
contends for are not actionable at this time although it may well be that he is
entitled
to some further monies from the accounting practice. The application
must be dismissed and the applicant shall pay the respondents’
costs to be
taxed, if not agreed, pursuant to the Federal Magistrates Court (Bankruptcy)
Rules 2006.
- I
am not persuaded that his Honour’s analysis in the 2011 judgment was
wrong. On the contrary, in my view that judgment is
an effective answer to
ground 2 in the Notice of Grounds of Opposition. Federal Magistrate Raphael
gave close attention to the deed
of assignment entered into on 13 June 2005
between Stanton Partners Australia Pty Ltd (SPA) (the assignor) and Demandem
Investments
Pty Ltd and Glenlea Enterprises Pty Ltd (the assignees). The deed
purports to assign a debt to the assignees, pursuant to clause
2.1.
- Pursuant
to clause 1.1, the deed defines the debt as being:
- the claim
by the Assignor against Nick Christou for payment of damages arising out of and
in connection with the failure by Nick
Christou to sell certain Telstra 2
investment receipts (“the Debt”)
- The
Debt is the amount of $150,000 required to be paid by Mr Christou to the
applicants pursuant to order 10 of the orders made by
Beech J on 28 March 2008
in proceedings CIV 1788 of 2003.
- Pursuant
to clause 2.2, the assignees agreed that they would hold one third of the net
proceeds of the Debt after deduction of all
legal costs associated with the
enforcement thereof in trust for Corporate Systems Publishing Pty Ltd
(CSP).
- CSP
assigned its right to one third of the net proceeds of the Debt to Mr
Christou.
- Clause
2.2 of the deed makes clear that Mr Christou’s entitlement under the deed
is limited to one third of the net proceeds of the debt after deduction
of all legal costs associated with the enforcement thereof.
- In
the 2011 proceedings Raphael FM found that in the absence of a proof of an
actionable debt, Mr Christou had no right to set-off
at common law or in equity
in respect of the net proceeds of the debt: J & S Holdings Pty Ltd v NRMA
Insurance Ltd at 554. In other words, Mr Christou has no legal or equitable
right to enforce the purported obligation in clause 2.2 of the Deed
until the
net proceeds of the debt come into existence. The only way Mr Christou could
come into possession of this right would
be through first paying the outstanding
debt.
- Therefore,
Mr Christou’s failure to pay the amount of $150,000 precludes him from
being able to claim a legal or equitable set-off
in respect of one third of the
net proceeds of the debt after the deduction of all legal costs associated with
its enforcement.
- The
present bankruptcy notice and the creditor’s petition take account of the
set-off identified in the 2010 proceedings. I
am not persuaded that Mr Christou
has established that he has a further set-off or other entitlement to monies
from Demandem in circumstances
where it would be unjust for this Court to make a
sequestration order.
- Neither
am I persuaded that there is any other reason for the Court to refrain from
making a sequestration order. Mr Christou relies
on the authority of Food
Channel Network Pty Ltd v Television Food Network GP (No.3) in support of
its proposition that the discretion provided by s.52(2)(b) of the Bankruptcy Act
is broad enough to recognise that substantial justice is best done by reducing
the indebtedness of the respondent.
- In
that case Food Channel Network (FCN) sought an order for the repayment of
$8,039.90 paid by it to Television Food Network GP (TFN)
in discharge of an
order for costs, which was later set aside on appeal, in circumstances where TFN
was entitled to payment by FCN
of $16,415.95 pursuant to a certificate of
taxation.
- The
Court considered that in those circumstances, whether or not TFN was strictly
entitled to set off the sum of $8,039.90 against
FCN’s debt of $16,415.95,
the Court’s discretion was broad enough to recognise that substantial
justice was best done
by leaving FCN indebted to TFN in the sum of $8,736.05,
rather than to compel TFN to pursue FCN for the recovery amount of
$16,415.95.
- Food
Channel Network Pty Ltd v Television Food Network GP can be distinguished
from the present case on the basis that it concerned two actionable debts, both
of which were due and payable
at the date of the action. I do not accept that
the principle laid down in Food Channel Network Pty Ltd v Television Food
Network GP extends to cases such as this where in the first instance there
is no actionable debt due to Mr Christou but merely a contingent future
debt.
- Even
if the Court’s discretion does extend to taking account of non-actionable
contingent debts, it does not follow that such
a contingent debt provides
“other sufficient cause” under s.52(2)(b) of the Bankruptcy Act so
that a sequestration order should not be made.
- Mr
Christou relies on the authority of Totev v Sfar & Anor [2008] FCAFC 35; (2008) 247
ALR 180 in submitting that the Court’s discretion under s.52(2)(b) is a
broad one. In that case the Full Federal Court did not consider what range of
circumstances might constitute “other sufficient
cause” under the
Bankruptcy Act, but instead concentrated on answering one specific question as
to whether a counterclaim by a respondent debtor in other proceedings
against an
applicant creditor might enliven the Court’s discretion under
s.52(2)(b).
- The
Court recognised that while the discretion is enlivened in such circumstances,
the existence of a counterclaim by a respondent
debtor against a petitioning
creditor has been held not to constitute sufficient reason for the Court to
decline to make a sequestration
order, even though it has been accepted that, in
an appropriate case, such a claim might constitute “other sufficient
cause”:
Ling v Enrobook Pty Ltd [1997] FCA 226; (1997) 74 FCR 19 at [25]- [26]; ALR
400-2 and Re Schmidt; ex parte Anglewood Pty Ltd (1967) 13 FLR 111 at
115-117. The Court identified that the determination of such a question would
depend upon an assessment of the particular facts
in each case, considered in
conjunction with the interests of the petitioning creditor.
- Mr
Christou relies on Totev v Sfar only to the extent that it supports his
proposition that the discretion afforded to the Court is a broad one under
s.52(2)(b). However, to the extent that that authority may have application in
respect of Mr Christou’s claim against the petitioning
creditors in
Federal Court proceedings WAD182 of 2010, the petitioning creditors note the
most recent orders of McKerracher J made
on 9 June 2011 strike out Mr
Christou’s statement of claim for a third time.
- Whilst
Totev v Sfar is authority for the proposition that the Court’s
discretion under s.52(2)(b) is a broad one, like Food Channel Network Pty Ltd
v Television Food Network GP, it provides no authority for Mr
Christou’s contention that a non-actionable debt should be accepted as
constituting “other
sufficient cause” under the Bankruptcy Act so
that a sequestration order ought not to be made.
- In
my view, in circumstances where a debtor has substantial debts in addition to
the debt identified in a creditor’s petition,
and the contingent debt
relied upon to resist a sequestration order is not actionable until such time as
the debt due to the petitioning
creditor is paid, and there is little likelihood
of that debt being paid (even in bankruptcy) the Court should not accept the
contingent
debt as a reason not to make a sequestration order. That is the
circumstance here.
- I
am satisfied that Mr Christou committed the act of bankruptcy alleged in the
petition. I am satisfied with the other matters of
which s.52(1) of the
Bankruptcy Act requires proof.
- I
am not satisfied that Mr Christou has established that he is able to pay his
debts or that there is another reason for the Court
to refrain from making a
sequestration order. I will grant the relief sought in the
petition.
I certify that the preceding thirty-four (34)
paragraphs are a true copy of the reasons for judgment of Driver FM
Date: 24 August 2011
[1] Proceeding number
CIV 1788/2003
[2] See
Demandem Holdings Pty Ltd v Christou [2010] FMCA 494 (the 2010
proceedings)
[3]
Christou v Demandem Holdings Pty Ltd [2011] FMCA 36 (the 2011
proceedings)
[4] A
further $13,357.37 is owed to him.
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