The notorious glamour couple taking on a big bank

THEY fled Australia after their business crumbled, and now this billionaire couple has returned to take on the big bank they believe owes them billions.

MEET the fertiliser industry’s notorious glamour couple.

OK, let’s take a few steps back. Yes, the fertiliser industry has a glamour couple, and it’s one you need to know about.

Pankaj and Radhika Oswal are taking one of the big banks to court, demanding up to $2.5 billion in compensation over the sale of their crumbled empire, a West Australian fertiliser business, in what is understood to be the biggest trial in the Victorian Supreme Court’s history, and making headlines while they’re at it.

The Indian power couple established their company, Burrup Fertilisers, managing it up until December 2010 when the ANZ appointed receivers over their shares following a failed sale, and the pair fled to Dubai.

But before they left, the couple well and truly made their mark in the western capital.

Establishing themselves on the social scene, the Oswals became well-known among Perth’s champagne set.

Pankaj and Radhika Oswal pictured at their annual party in 2009. Picture: Alf Sorbello

They frequented the state’s social pages and pulled up to exclusive events in any of their fleet of luxury vehicles, from BMWs to Bentleys. Mrs Oswal found a platform and an audience for her outspoken views on vegetarianism.

But they were perhaps best known for building an enormous home on the banks of the Swan River in Peppermint Grove, WA’s most affluent suburb.

The enormous domed mansion was nicknamed by locals the Taj on Swan.

The couple became hated not only for building the monstrosity, but for not completing it.

The half-finished enterprise is estimated to have cost a total of $70 million. Originally due for completion in 2012, it is set to be demolished at taxpayer expense.

While the Oswals found notoriety in WA, it wasn’t the first time it had come to the family.

In 2008, when Mr Oswal’s success with Burrup Fertilisers was at its peak, he was forced to distance himself from his father’s questionable business decisions, as The Australian reported.

Indian newspaper Thelka said the senior Mr Oswal had been courting “one controversy after another” since he promoted Oswal Agro Group in 1981, and established its flagship Oswal Chemical and Fertilisers.

Though he distanced himself from his father’s dealings and the factories in the family name that had to be shut down due to his failures, Pankaj Oswal remained in the fertiliser and chemical industry long enough to gain his own notoriety.

The Oswal mansion in Peppermint Grove where work stopped years ago.

When Mr and Mrs Oswal’s 65 per cent share of Burrup was placed into receivership, they were forced to begin liquidating their lucrative assets.

Four luxury cars went under the hammer in 2010 as the couple holidayed in the Maldives, as trucks were seen leaving the couple’s luxury home packed with their belongings.

While they’ve been off the scene in Australia, disappearing to Dubai where they went to live with their two daughters, the Oswals have recently returned to Melbourne for their trial.

Beginning earlier this week, it’s expected to run for six months, with opening statements alone estimated to take at up to three weeks.

The Oswals are seeking at least $1.5 billion and up to $2.5 billion in damages from ANZ and the receivers it appointed to the Burrup business, which operated an ammonia manufacturing plant in Western Australia.

The bank brought in receivers to the Burrup group of companies in 2010 and the Oswals argue their 65 per cent stake in Burrup Holdings was undersold in 2012.

The shares were sold for $US560 million in January 2012, which the court heard, the Oswals contend was about half their true value, the Victorian Supreme Court heard on Monday.

The Oswals barrister Tony Bannon SC said the Oswals are entitled to a judgment against the bank and receivers in excess of $1.5 billion. The value of the compensation rises to $2.5 billion if the sale agreement is set aside and the shares are ordered to be divested, taking into account their current value.

The billionaire couple has returned to Australia to take on ANZ in a mammoth court battle. Picture: Mike Keating.

Mr Bannon said the receivers and ANZ made it clear that their purpose was simply to clear Mr Oswal’s debt, and effectively disclosed the reserve price to potential bidders.

“Not only was it a breach of selling any asset rule 101, as it turns out it’s a break of a duty of a receiver,” Mr Bannon said. Mr Bannon told the court the receivers “effectively did ANZ’s bidding”.

On Wednesday of this week, the trial turned nasty, with a senior ANZ executive accused of making derogatory racist remarks about the business couple.

The court heard then ANZ chief risk officer Chris Page told the bank’s CEO Michael Smith in a 2009 email: “We are dealing with Indians with no moral compass and an Indian woman as every bit as devious as PO (Mr Oswal).”

It was no more or less than racial bigotry, Mr Oswal’s barrister Tony Bannon SC told the Victorian Supreme Court. Mr Bannon went on to claim Mr Page felt personal animosity towards the Oswals in part because in his mind they had character flaws he thought were particularly Indian.

The trial, which as with many of the flamboyant couple’s public displays, will surely be watched closely. It continues Monday.

- With AAP