Embattled former fund manager and property developer Seb Monsour and his father, Frank Monsour, have been sued for allegedly defaulting on $2 million in loans

The troubles just seem to keep coming for the in-laws of one of Queensland’s former Premiers with embattled former fund manager Seb Monsour and his father being sued.

Property developer Seb Monsour. Picture: AAP Image/Dan Peled

MORE TROUBLE

The troubles just seem to keep coming for the in-laws of former Premier Campbell Newman.

Embattled former fund manager and property developer Seb Monsour and his father, Frank Monsour, have been sued in the Brisbane Supreme Court for allegedly defaulting on $2 million in loans dating back to 2014.

Sydney-based investor Michael Kaminski is now seeking to recover more than $3.13 million following his disastrous involvement with the Monsour’s now-collapsed Majella Towers One Pty Ltd. It went down in 2018 owing nearly $33 million.

Property developer Seb Monsour,

Neither Seb nor Frank could be reached for comment yesterday and they have yet to lodged a defence in the case.

The lawsuit continues a horror run over the past two years which has seen the demise of multiple companies in the Majella Group.

The tax man filed a creditor’s petition against Seb last year as a precursor to bankrupting him over an alleged $225,000 debt. That case remains ongoing.

Seb has also vowed to fight two charges stemming from $10 million in alleged investment fraud.

Newman had no involvement with Majella businesses.

IN THE BALANCE

As the fate of Virgin Australia hangs in the balance, backers of the beleaguered carrier had a scare yesterday.

Their online petition to PM Scott Morrison to “Keep Virgin Australia In The Skies’’ had garnered more than 25,0000 supporters at change.org in just a couple of days.

Then suddenly, without warning or explanation, the link disappeared on Tuesday.

But after complaints were lodged, it was back up yesterday, dampening fevered speculation that a certain main competitor may have had a hand in taking it down.

The impassioned plea to Morrison comes as a peak industry group this week warned that Virgin is “unlikely to survive six months without support’’.

Despite this bleak prognosis, the Centre for Aviation said it appears likely that the government will knock back Virgin’s request for a $1.4 billion aid package.

If Virgin falls over, many suspect another airline would quickly replace it or outside backers would restructure the company to get it back on its feet.

“These are careless assumptions, and the outcome could be heavily sub-optimal for Australia,’’ a Centre analysis concluded.

VIRTUAL LUNCH

The classic boardroom lunch, complete with a few plates of deli sandwiches, has gone out the window as we all work from home now.

But Steve Baxter and his gang at Ten13 have found a novel way to recreate the ritual as this week they launch their new company aimed early-stage investment in tech start-ups.

Brisbane investor Steve Baxter.

Baxter, the wealthy Brisbane investor and former Shark Tank star, told us yesterday that he’ll be dispatching gift cards to members to order their own lunches ahead of dialling in for a series of virtual boardroom get-togethers.

He couldn’t help noting that he’s also throwing in a side order of social distancing!

“Providing gift vouchers to spend on local businesses during this time we thought of as a fantastic way to give back to the local economy,” Baxter said.

SUPPORT SMALL

Speaking of giving back, Steve Tait has come up with a similarly inspired way of helping small business owners.

The Chamber of Commerce and Industry Queensland boss had his crew go out a few weeks ago and spend $50 each on a product or service, donate it to someone in need and then claim the cost back as a business expense.

A LinkedIn post about the initiative was then viewed more than 26,000 times, prompting the start of the #SupportSmall campaign and interest from as far away as WA. Big corporates are now being encouraged to take part.

“Just tag your favourite small business owner or business on social media next time you buy from them and add the hashtag #SupportSmall to spread the word,’’ Tait said.

“If you like this idea, you can also put yourself in our Facebook frame. Let’s all shop small over the coming weeks. It will save businesses, jobs and maybe even lives.’’