Lawyer Alex Elliott, the son of the mastermind behind an alleged fraudulent scheme by certain members of the legal team in the Banksia class action, has resisted handing over evidence in the case against him, invoking the right to silence in the face of possible criminal charges.
The cost consultant joined as a defendant in the trial over alleged misconduct by the Banksia class action legal team has died, the second person implicated in the fee scandal to die this year.
The director of a defunct HR company has lost his bid to avoid paying a $384,000 tax bill after hundreds of thousands of dollars were sent to the tax office via the wrong EFT number and used to repay other debts the company owed.
Lawyer Alex Elliott was complicit in a plan by his late father to mislead the court and group members in the Banksia class action, to conceal conflicts of interest and to profit from the case at the expense of debenture holders, a judge has been told.
Engineering company Howden Australia can view the laptop and other electronic devices of an employee accused of stealing confidential information, after a judge found there was evidence suggesting the worker had not been “entirely truthful” with the court.
Insurance Australia Group will fork over $138 million to settle a class action brought against two subsidiaries alleging they engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct by pushing worthless insurance on motor vehicle purchasers.
Queensland police are searching for Federal Circuit Court judge Guy Andrew, who was recently removed from the Townsville registry, after he went missing in Brisbane bushland on Sunday.
The Murray Goulburn class action run by Elliott Legal bears similarities to the Banksia class action, a case rife with scandal and offered up by opponents as proof of the problems with the class action regime. The leading lawyers were the same in both cases. In one they have abandoned any claim to their fees and have walked away from their careers. In the other they walked away with $5 million.
Former Macquarie Bank financial advisers who claimed their commission pay structure left them shortchanged have won their case for back pay for annual and personal leave, in the first decision in a group of cases against the wealth manager.
A judge has ordered Australia and New Zealand Banking Group to pay $10 million in penalties after finding that the bank engaged in unconscionable conduct and breached its obligations by slugging customers $3 million in periodic payment fees it was not entitled to charge.