A Federal Court judge has thrown out a A$1 million-plus legal action by Sydney-based business financier Scottish Pacific against rival Benchmark Debtor Finance and its managing director Peter Langham.
Justice Robert French rejected allegations made against West Perth-based Benchmark and Mr Langham, the former WA manager of Scottish Pacific, over dealings with a group of failed companies that distributed the Kappa sportswear label.
Justice French said it could be argued that Scottish Pacific, a subsidiary of St George Bank, was the author of its own misfortune in failing to adequately monitor and control its exposure to the Kappa distribution company Calejac Pty Ltd.
Calejac, controlled by family interests of Parkwood businessman Walter Aquino, collapsed in March 2002 while involved in a complex debt factoring arrangement with Scottish Pacific.
Scottish Pacific claims to have lost A$1.3 million through its dealings with Calejac.
