Derek J Y Chan, instructed by Holman Fenwick Willan, acted for the Plaintiff, ANZ Commodity Trading Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Limited, in a claim against 10 defendants concerning a commodity trading fraud. The action involved the forgery of 83 warehouse receipts, proprietary claims against various traceable recipients of the defrauded funds, and a conspiracy claim resulting in an award of damages in the sum of about US$293 million.
After a 12-day trial, the Honourable Madam Justice Mimmie Chan sitting in the Commercial Court (HCCL 4/2017) found in favour of the Plaintiff that the 83 warehouse receipts were forgeries and that the 2nd to 4th Defendants had conspired to injure and defraud the Plaintiff by presenting the 83 forged warehouse receipts in metal “repo” transactions.
As against the 1st, and 7th to 10th Defendants, the Court drew adverse inferences against the relevant defendants for failing to call witnesses or adduce documentary evidence relevant to establishing the source of funds, and found that each were the recipient of traceable proceeds of the defrauded funds, with proprietary remedies granted in favour of the Plaintiff. The arguments of change of position, bona fide purchaser for value, and ministerial receipt raised by the 1st, 9th and 10th Defendants were rejected.
The Judgment can be found here.