Inspector-General in Bankruptcy launches court action against Beau Hartnett and SV Partners trustees

A disgraced Gold Coast lawyer is set to be hauled before the Federal Court by the bankruptcy watchdog. Find out why

Disgraced Gold Coast lawyer Beau Timothy Hartnett is set to be hauled before the Federal Court by the bankruptcy watchdog.

Mr Hartnett, 58 “exorbitantly” charged an elderly client $288,000 to enforce a $30,000 mortgage and then spent almost a decade in court trying to avoid repaying the money.

The original judgement, in the New South Wales Supreme Court, said even the death of his client in 2018 had not stopped Mr Hartnett, of Surfers Paradise-based Hartnett Lawyers, from billing for his time.

When he’d exhausted his appeals, he claimed he was broke and couldn’t pay, entering a personal insolvency agreement but avoiding bankruptcy.

Gold Coast solicitor Beau Hartnett.

Insolvency documents showed Anthony Robert Bell, who was owed $584,589 by Mr Hartnett, would see less than three cents for every dollar despite the latter living in a $3.25m mansion with $9.5m in declared interests in trusts.

An investigation by the Inspector-General in Bankruptcy Timothy Beresford, sparked after questions from the Gold Coast Bulletin in June, found “concern that the terms of the agreement were unreasonable or not in the interests of creditors generally”.

A statement from the Australian Financial Security Authority on Tuesday said the Inspector-General had applied to the Federal Court seeking to set aside the personal insolvency agreement protecting Mr Hartnett from bankruptcy.

Inspector-General in Bankruptcy Timothy Beresford.

Mr Hartnett’s trustees, SV Partners, are also party to the case.

“The application is against Mr Hartnett and the trustees for the personal insolvency agreement,” it said.

“This follows an investigation by the Inspector-General into the circumstances surrounding the agreement and reflects his concern that the terms of the agreement were unreasonable or not in the interests of creditors generally.

“The Inspector-General is committed to protecting the integrity of Australia’s personal insolvency system.”

The Gold Coast Bulletin has contacted Mr Hartnett for comment.

SV Partners director Anne Meagher, a trustee of Mr Hartnett’s case with colleague Adam Kersey, said they were awaiting service of supporting documents for the case.

“We have not yet had the opportunity to completely review the material and therefore we cannot provide any further comment at this time,” she said.

Despite the events, Mr Hartnett was still listed on the Queensland Law Society register as holder of a valid practising certificate on Tuesday.

Originally published as Inspector-General in Bankruptcy launches court action against Beau Hartnett and SV Partners trustees