Tycoon Pankaj Oswal to return for good if he wins court battles

Pankaj Oswal will consider a return to the Australian resources sector if he is successful in several court cases.

Radhika and Pankaj Oswal are back in Australia to fight court cases. Picture: James Croucher

Indian tycoon Pankaj Oswal says he will consider a return to the Australian resources sector if he succeeds in claiming hundreds of millions of dollars from ANZ Bank and others in court cases due to start within weeks.

The entrepreneur and his wife Radhika left Perth abruptly in 2010, leaving behind a half-built mansion in Peppermint Grove and a maze of debts and legal disputes after the high-profile collapse of their Burrup Fertilisers empire and amid allegations — which are denied — that they ­siphoned $100 million out of the business for personal use.

They made a surprise return to Australia last week in an ­attempt to claim damages from a series of legal actions due to begin in the Victorian Supreme Court on May 30.

The Australian Taxation ­Office immediately barred the Oswals from leaving Australia, issuing the couple with a departure prohibition order over Ms Oswal’s $190m tax bill. This means they must remain here until the matter is resolved in the courts.

Mr Oswal told The Weekend Australian he would not rule out living permanently in Australia, revealing his business ventures in other parts of the world had taken a back seat while he ­focused on the legal cases in Australia.

“Our decade-long life together in Australia is something we look back on with fond family memories, although the ending imposed upon us left us with a bitter taste in our mouth,” he said in Sydney.

“Having a longer term residency here would definitely ­depend on the kind of justice and settlement we get and the comfort level felt in the reversal of all the wrongdoings that were thrust upon us, and the impact that we have felt.

“Depending on the (legal) settlement, we would consider ­investing a part into the resources industry here, which I have ­always believed in.”

Mr Oswal said he and his family, who live between the US and Europe, had fond memories of Australia. “Our younger daughter was born here and still considers Perth her home town,” he said.

“Our older daughter spent her junior and middle-school years here and is excited to return after six years away and meet all her friends who she has remained in touch with.”

In recent weeks, Mr Oswal has become embroiled in a bitter dispute with his mother, Aruna Oswal, over control of the family’s business empire in India.

Mr Oswal’s wealthy industrialist father, Abhey Oswal, died suddenly in Russia last month.

Indian media reported this week that Mr Oswal had served a legal notice on his mother and others seeking to freeze all assets, including bank accounts, prop­erties and shares owned by his ­father.

The couple is suing ANZ and two other companies over losses on the sale of Burrup Fertilisers.

ANZ has denied any wrongdoing.