Forgetful Ken Rosewall an unsatisfactory witness in BBY case: court

Tennis great Ken Rosewall was an “unsatisfactory witness” during a civil case brought against him by liquidators of a failed stockbroker.

Former Australian tennis great Ken Rosewall was a director of failed stockbroking firm BBY. Picture: AAP

Tennis great Ken Rosewall was an “unsatisfactory witness” due to his poor recollection of events during a civil case brought against him by liquidators of failed stockbroking firm BBY, a court has heard.

“His recollection was poor in 2016 … and has not gotten any better since then,” liquidator KPMG’s barrister Daniel Krochmalik said in his closing submission to the NSW Supreme Court, noting discrepancies between the verbal testimony of Mr Rosewall and statements made via affidavits.

KPMG is pursuing Mr Rosewall in a civil case over $3.3m repaid to Ficema, an entity associated with him, before the 2015 collapse of BBY. The liquidator believes the payment reflected preferential treatment while the stockbroking firm was already insolvent, making it voidable.

Mr Rosewall was a BBY board director alongside his son Glenn, who was executive chairman, and lawyer David Perkins.

Ken Rosewall’s legal team accuses KPMG of skewed analysis in its solvency and creditor reports, including the firm’s assessment of the failed stockbroker’s financial accounts.

The court on Monday heard from Mr Rosewall’s accountant Peter Collier, of Collier & Partners, who recalled speaking with Ken and Glenn Rosewall over the phone in 2014 to help organise the loan from Ficema to BBY.

Mr Collier submitted a handwritten note of the conversation he had made at the time.

Ken Rosewall’s barrister Richard Scruby, SC, argued that the court should not presume that BBY was insolvent in January 2014, as per a separate judgment handed down by Justice Kelly Rees last year.

Justice Fabian Gleeson took a different view, and hit out at Mr Scruby for not raising the matter earlier. “The days of games are long gone. This is a game,” Justice Gleeson said. He ruled that the separate court judgment in 2019 — which found the BBY insolvency date was January 2014 — could be presumed in subsequent proceedings.

The liquidator is pursuing Ken Rosewall after being unable to recover funds from Glenn when he filed for bankruptcy last year.

When BBY failed KPMG put the shortfall in customer accounts at about $20m, and clients of the broker have been tied up in a complex process to retrieve some of their money.

KPMG has also argued the stockbroking firm may have been insolvent as far back as 2011, but Mr Scruby said the audited BBY accounts were reliable and accused the liquidator of errors in its assessment of working capital.

On Monday, the parties also squabbled about why Glenn Rosewall wasn’t called as a witness.

Mr Krochmalik said Glenn Rosewall was clearly aligned with his father’s case given he was a director of BBY and Ficema.

A judgment in the matter is not expected until at least February.