City Beat: Ex-director’s surprise appearance at BCU AGM

THERE were extraordinary scenes at the AGM of a credit union this week after an ex-director made a surprise appearance to defend his son-in-law - who was the boss of the business until he was sacked last year for ‘serious misconduct’.

Brisbane lawyer Daniel Hua has amassed more than 80 Hugo Boss suits.

IN THE FAMILY

THERE was an extraordinary scene this week at the annual general meeting of BCU, formerly known as the Bananacoast Community Credit Union.

Ex-director David Christy, who was voted off the board last year, put in a surprise appearance to defend his son-in-law Lyndon Kingston, a Brisbane bizoid who spent nearly 10 years as BCU boss.

Kingston was sacked for “serious misconduct’’ in October last year and is now locked in legal combat with BCU, which alleges in court documents that he engineered a multimillion-dollar racket involving sham payments, kickbacks and improper expense claims.

Kingston had earlier sued BCU over an alleged $3.4 million in unpaid bonuses in a matter still before the Supreme Court. Both cases are being defended.

Christy took the microphone to tell the crowd that “the previous CEO is being unfairly victimised’’ after overseeing strong growth at BCU, which just reported a best-ever $10.7 million annual net profit. He also claimed that he too had been “victimised” by his removal from the board after six years.

Christy filed a defamation lawsuit following his departure and it was resolved in a confidential settlement reached late last month.

But that didn’t stop Christy from violating at least the spirit of the deal by telling the AGM that he had won a payout that constituted a “win’’ for him.

We hear the amount would have been largely burned up in legal fees.

Meanwhile, it’s understood ASIC is actively examining the allegations against Kingston, who worked for banking watchdog APRA before taking on the BCU job.

Kingston denies BCU allegations made in court papers that he took $2.5 million in kickbacks from “uncommercial’’ contracts, approved a $345,000 “sham redundancy’’ payout to his wife and claimed $91,000 in fraudulent “living away from home’’ expenses.

HE’LL GIVE YOU THE BOSS OFF HIS BACK

HE’S the Brisbane legal eagle giving away 82 of his designer suits to worthy recipients who don’t already have their own professional threads.

More than 200 people have already contacted Daniel Hua about his remarkable wardrobe clean-out of Hugo Boss Black Label suits, each of which retail for about $1200.

Hua has set a deadline of November 5 for needy applicants to tell him why they should get one of the outfits to advance their career or studies.

“It’s not my intention to receive accolades or exposure,’’ Hua told City Beat yesterday. “I’m simply hoping to inspire others in my position to do the same.’’

Hua built up the collection over his nearly 10 years of practice as the first and only Vietnamese lawyer in Queensland specialising in criminal defence.

His parents arrived in Brisbane in the early 1980s as penniless refugees from war-torn Vietnam. Generous public assistance helped them rebuild their lives so Hua feels his gesture is “a wonderful opportunity to give back’’.

So how many suits will he still have in the closet? Hua isn’t saying.

LAWYERS SMELL BLOOD

CITY Beat spies report that class action lawyers and ASIC are already taking a keen interest in the trouble plagued Corporate Travel Management.

Spotted in damage control-mode in the Brisbane CBD yesterday were CTM top guns Jamie Pherous, Steve Fleming and Tony Bellas.

It’s understood they were huddling with multiple brokers and institutional shareholders in a desperate bid to calm jittery nerves and shore up the share price.

Meanwhile, their tormentors at Sydney-based VGI Partners, Doug Tynan and Rob Luciano, were also mixing with financial types in Brisbane’s golden triangle.

The short-selling pair kept busy defending their savage critique of the CTM business, which saw the share price dive 27 per cent on Wednesday and recover only slightly yesterday.

Luckily the paths of the two parties didn’t cross.