Yatala Pies chases butcher’s ex wife for slice of ‘swindled’ $1.5m

Operators of one of the state’s most famous pie shops, who accused their long-time supplier of ripping them off, are now chasing the supplier’s ex-wife.

The Queensland family that owns one of the state’s most famous pie shops who has accused their long-time friend and meat supplier of ripping them off to the tune of $1.5 million, is now chasing the supplier’s ex-wife for cash claiming she was “involved” in the alleged fraud.

Yatala Pie Shop Pty Ltd, owned by Graham Porter, 78, and Christine Porter, 73, from Highgate Hill in Brisbane, first sued Carina Meat Supply Pty Ltd and its owner James “Jim” Cornell, 75, from Upper Mount Gravatt, in the Supreme Court in November 2019.

They alleged Mr Cornell deceitfully issued false invoices and falsely stated the weight of each fresh minced beef delivery for nearly three years to undersupply at least 261 tonnes of beef between January 2017 and October 2019.

But following Mr Cornell’s bankruptcy last year and the winding up of the company he shared with now-ex-wife Tricia Maree Cornell, Carina Meat Supply Pty Ltd (CMS) last year, Yatala Pie Shop is now pursuing 57-year-old Tricia, from Mount Gravatt East, alleging that she “was involved in” CMS’s systematic undersupply and overcharging of Yatala Pie Shop, which has sold pies from its store between Brisbane and the Gold Coast for decades.

Yatala Pie Shop make all their pies on its business premises old the Old Pacific Highway at Yatala.

On April 16 Yatala Pie Shop succeeded in its bid to get a court order for the urgent freezing of Mrs Cornell’s assets up to the value of $220,000, after Mrs Cornell was paid $220,000 out of her ex-husbands’ bankrupt estate as part of their divorce settlement, court documents state.

Susan Porter with parents Graham and Christine at their business the Yatala Pie Shop which has been running for over 150 years.

Counsel for Yatala Pie Shop Charles Wilson submitted to the court last month that unless the money was frozen it was likely that Mrs Cornell would disburse it.

On May 10, Mrs Cornell told the court in her sworn affidavit that after her husband’s bankruptcy trustee Bill Karageozis paid the $220,000 into her family law solicitor’s trust account, she received a lump sum of $140,000 into her bank account.

She then paid $70,000 to Chris Baskerville, the liquidator of CMS, then paid out the lion’s share of the remainder to repay debts to her lawyers, family and on her credit card.

She claimed she paid $21,000 to her mother Patricia Engleby for legal fees and living expenses, and a further $20,020 to her mother for a year’s advance rent of a Greenslopes property, $11,150 to her brother David Dalzell to repay a loan, $3700 to her son Thomas to repay money she spent on living expenses.

She also claimed she paid $5000 to Elizabeth Cornell to repay loans for removalist expenses and accountancy fees, and a further $7390 to her daughter Grace as a loan to Grace for her to buy a $5000 car and to repay a loan Grace made to her.

She also claimed she paid $9000 to her son-in-law as repayment of a loan he made to her for living expenses and a loan to pay for her daughter Georgia’s university fees.

Mrs Cornell told the court in her affidavit she had just $25,000 in cash in one bank account and $1000 in another account, as well as $5000 in her lawyer’s trust account.

Under the April freezing orders Mrs Cornell was only allowed to pay ordinary living expenses and legal fees to the value of $1500 per week.

Carina Meat Supply Pty Ltd’s former shopfront at 135 Winstanley St, Carina, sold for $520,000 last year

On May 12, Justice Jean Dalton ordered Mrs Cornell to reveal the dates of payments of the money to Mr Baskerville, her lawyers, her credit card and to family and to reveal the details of any contract obliging her to repay the purported ‘loans’ after April 16, the date the court made the freezing orders.

Justice Dalton has also ordered Mrs Cornell to give “any reasons why (Mrs Cornell) did not give” Yatala Pie Shop details of loans which she needed to repay before transferring the money, and also ordered Mrs Cornell to provide bank statements showing the payments she made.

An expert report by accountant Don Collins from Findex, filed in court, states that he estimates that CMS overcharged Yatala Pie Shop by $1,672,212 by undersupplying meat.

Mr Collins was required to estimate the undersupply because Yatala Pie Shop failed to weigh the meat deliveries at the time they arrived or later.

As part of Mr Cornell’s bankruptcy his home at Upper Mount Gravatt was sold for $642,000 at auction in October, and his butcher shop in Carina was sold for $520,000 at auction.

Yatala Pie Shop’s lawyer John O’Donoghue estimated that Mr Cornell’s bankrupt estate realised about $500,000 from the sales after mortgages were paid out.

Yatala Pie Shop’s owners, the Porter family, had an almost lifelong friendship with Mr Cornell, and a business relationship that extends for more than 30 years, until the alleged fraud was discovered and legal action began.

The case is due back in court on Friday.

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Originally published as Yatala Pies chases butcher’s ex wife for slice of ‘swindled’ $1.5m