Lucky escape as Porsche crashes through Sydney house, lands in child's bedroom
A family has had a lucky escape as an allegedly stolen Porsche four-wheel-drive ploughed through a wall and stopped in their 11-year-old's bedroom.
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ABC News
32 minutes ago
- ABC News
Melbourne lawyer fled Australia with $1.2m after filing for bankruptcy, court case alleges
What do you do if the bank accidentally sends you more than $1 million? A court has heard this happened to former lawyer Chaim Geron, who's accused of quickly transferring the money offshore, declaring bankruptcy and leaving the country under a false name. What followed was an international pursuit by the person charged with handling Mr Geron's bankruptcy, in a bid to have it recognised in Israel — a move which could allow any of Mr Geron's assets to be used to pay any Australian debts. The former lawyer has now asked to have the bankruptcy set aside in the Federal Circuit Court, where the allegations against him have been detailed in a series of filings by his bankruptcy trustee. According to court documents, the ANZ bank made its million-dollar error in June 2019, when Mr Geron had recently broken up with his wife. At around the same time, he was also embroiled in a disciplinary dispute with the legal regulator that later saw him suspended from practising law over findings of misconduct in relation to his dealings with an elderly client. "Following the breakdown of my marriage and after one year of legal proceedings I ended up losing everything I had, including my practice and any savings and decided to relocate to Israel where I was born and bred and have a family," Mr Geron said in an affidavit. He held the family home in the Melbourne suburb of Elsternwick in his name, but it was mortgaged to ANZ and he owed the bank $1.5 million. He sold the property, but about $1.2 million — which should have been paid to the bank — ended up in the trust account of Mr Geron's lawyers. According to a lawyer for his bankruptcy trustee, Innis Cull from accounting firm PKR, the money was instead moved offshore into a company named Hilazon, "a Hebrew word which translates to 'shelled creature' or 'snail'." "Mr Geron refused to return the money, and instead transferred the funds overseas to bank accounts in Israel, and subsequently to his brother and a company he controlled, Hilazon Inc," Mr Cull's lawyer said in an affidavit filed with the court. Mr Geron denies Mr Cull's version of events. "This is not true," he told the ABC. "I paid debts and Mr Cull has all the information." Mr Geron declared himself bankrupt in 2021, two years after the ANZ transaction, and at a time when the COVID pandemic meant there was no easy way to get back to Australia. In his affidavit, Mr Geron told the court that his bankruptcy was motivated by ANZ suing him over the home loan payment. He told the court that, after realising he needed an Australian address to declare bankruptcy, he asked an acquaintance to sign a lease that was backdated by several months — something Mr Cull's lawyer alleges in a court document amounts to "fraud". Mr Geron provided Mr Cull with a copy of the lease showing he was renting a room in Elsternwick. The bankruptcy went through and there things sat until October 2022, when Mr Geron told Mr Cull he wanted to visit Australia. Within weeks of his return to Australia, Mr Cull ordered Mr Geron to come to his office in Melbourne and face questions about his affairs. By that stage, Mr Cull had appointed a lawyer to comb through Israeli records and identify any assets Mr Geron held there, court documents show. The search turned up an apartment in Mr Geron's name, held without a mortgage, in Rishon LeZion, about 8 kilometres south of Tel Aviv, along with up to four current or former Israeli bank accounts. Mr Cull also began proceedings in Israel to have the Australian bankruptcy recognised over there — the first step towards seizing control of any Israeli assets held by Mr Geron. The court heard that during his January 12, 2023, meeting with Mr Cull, Mr Geron confirmed his address in Australia was the place he rented from his friend and denied having multiple bank accounts. Mr Geron also "claimed that whilst in Israel, he was staying with his mother, or in short-term rented accommodation for which there was no lease agreement," according to court documents. Asked about whether he held the property and bank accounts, and failed to declare them to Mr Cull, Mr Geron told the ABC: "This is not true at all." On the morning after they met, Mr Cull wrote to Mr Geron and used his power, as his bankruptcy trustee, to ban him from leaving Australia. Mr Geron also informed Australian Federal Police (AFP) of the decision. Mr Geron wrote back to say that he "answered your questions in full" at the interview. Later that day, at around 12.20pm, the AFP called Mr Cull's office to say Mr Geron had tried to leave the country, but had been stopped. According to Australian Border Force (ABF), Mr Geron left the country on January 15, 2023, three days after his interview with Mr Cull, using a New Zealand passport in the name of Shane Green. "Unfortunately he has departed Australia without triggering any alert as he used an alias," an ABF officer told Mr Cull in an email tendered to the court. Authorities also told Mr Cull they would update their records to show Mr Geron and Mr Green are the same person. Mr Geron provided the ABC with an extract of official movement records, dated last month, "showing that [I] entered and exited Australia legally under my name". "I emphasise that no criminal actions were ever taken against me for using [a] 'false passport,'" he said. Mr Geron turned up again in February last year, when he filed a response to Mr Cull's Israeli proceedings that court documents say was witnessed before the "consul at the Israeli consulate in Panama City, Panama". Court documents show that until December last year, Mr Geron told the Israeli court he lived in Australia. "I deny court [sic] in Israel have jurisdiction in respect of my matter, since I am an Australian citizen and the correct forum to deal with any issue in respect of myself is in Australia," Mr Geron said in one document, filed with the Israeli court in February last year. "I attach a tax invoice issued to me a few days ago involving a purchase of a car in Australia in my name and bearing my address." The invoice shows the car was a $1,625 Mazda with no plates, sold as a write-off by auctioneers Pickles. More recently, Mr Geron has used his Israeli address in correspondence with the court there. Mr Geron told the ABC that the law required a person to be physically present in Australia in order to file for bankruptcy. He has been seeking to have the bankruptcy set aside on the grounds the required Australian connection never really existed, and has said in court documents that he really lives in Israel and hasn't lived in Australia since April 2019. Mr Cull opposes Mr Geron's attempt to annul the bankruptcy. Mr Geron said courts have previously annulled bankruptcies based on the residency test. Last month, Federal Circuit Court judge Simone Bingham made orders that Mr Geron appear in person at a hearing set down for July 2. "There will be no dispensation to have an online hearing in this case — it is a matter of credit," she said during a brief hearing on May 29. She agreed with counsel for Mr Cull that there were "serious matters" that needed to be examined, including "escaping the jurisdiction" by using a New Zealand passport under a different name. But Mr Geron told the ABC that he's concerned that the financial burden of hiring a lawyer and potentially having to provide security to cover legal costs "will not allow [me] to expose the truth". The case continues.
Sydney Morning Herald
39 minutes ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Brisbane Roar takes major sponsor to court claiming $130,000 in missed payments
Brisbane Roar is embroiled in a legal stoush with one of its major sponsors, taking the company to court over claims promotional payments of more than $130,000 are overdue. However, the sponsor Outkast claims it terminated their agreement because of Roar's alleged contractual breaches, which included that the club had signed on a rival sponsor. Documents filed in the Supreme Court by the club in February claim there are multiple unpaid invoices by Outkast spanning several months. These included three payments of $45,833 for November, December and January. The club is also claiming more than $20,000 in legal costs at the time of filing their claim. The invoices comprised of the sponsorship fee of about $41,000 for each month, plus GST, according to the club. Since mid-2023 – and presently – the club said it had featured Outkast's branding, including on match jerseys, its website and social media platforms, and other promotional items. The club said at the time of going to court that Outkast had not paid the sponsorship support for each of the months listed. Outkast, however, claimed it terminated the agreement in December. It said on December 12, the company sent an email to the club stating it rejected the November and December invoices pending contract disputes and contractual breaches. A letter was also sent by their lawyers, Outkast said, advising of terminating the agreement.
The Age
39 minutes ago
- The Age
Brisbane Roar takes major sponsor to court claiming $130,000 in missed payments
Brisbane Roar is embroiled in a legal stoush with one of its major sponsors, taking the company to court over claims promotional payments of more than $130,000 are overdue. However, the sponsor Outkast claims it terminated their agreement because of Roar's alleged contractual breaches, which included that the club had signed on a rival sponsor. Documents filed in the Supreme Court by the club in February claim there are multiple unpaid invoices by Outkast spanning several months. These included three payments of $45,833 for November, December and January. The club is also claiming more than $20,000 in legal costs at the time of filing their claim. The invoices comprised of the sponsorship fee of about $41,000 for each month, plus GST, according to the club. Since mid-2023 – and presently – the club said it had featured Outkast's branding, including on match jerseys, its website and social media platforms, and other promotional items. The club said at the time of going to court that Outkast had not paid the sponsorship support for each of the months listed. Outkast, however, claimed it terminated the agreement in December. It said on December 12, the company sent an email to the club stating it rejected the November and December invoices pending contract disputes and contractual breaches. A letter was also sent by their lawyers, Outkast said, advising of terminating the agreement.
