Small business owners who turned to the Bank of Queensland for financial assistance were subject to unfair contract terms that created a “significant imbalance” in the rights of the bank and its customers, a court has held.
The Federal Court has dealt US drug giant Merck Sharp & Dohme a devastating blow, overturning an “untenable” patent term extension which would have protected the monopoly of its multibillion-dollar Januvia and Janumet diabetes drugs beyond July 2o22.
Westpac has released further details of its fraud claim against Bill Papas, founder of the Forum Group of Companies, painting a picture of an elaborate scheme to misappropriate $254 million to buy real estate, jewellery, luxury cars, racehorses and European football teams.
Westpac has told the Federal Court it has “grave concerns” about Forum Group founder Bill Papas’ evidence of his assets, contained in affidavits lodged on Thursday after weeks of non-compliance with a judge’s orders.
Forum Group director Bill Papas intends to return to Australia to face $400 million fraud allegations but doesn’t have the funds for a flight home, his lawyer told the Federal Court Wednesday.
Two months after snagging one of Perth’s top energy litigators from Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, global law firm Jones Day has lured another four lawyers from its US rival for the disputes team in Australia.
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.
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.
A proposal by Bristol-Myers Squibb-owned Celgene to split a second trial into two more hearings in a dispute over patents covering the pharmaceutical maker’s top selling cancer drug Revlimid would result in wasted costs, wasted time and require a second judge, a court has been told.
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.