Arrest warrants voided as accountants appear

From Left: Bill Gertos, solicitor James Jordan
Therese Alha and Constantine Savell
Photo: SiN Images

APPARENTLY they never knew. About the summonses to attend for public examinations, about the orders to produce documents or about the warrants for their arrest, issued after the summonses expired uncomplied with. Accountants Bill Gertos, Constantine Savell and Therese Alha. No idea.

The Federal Court heard as much last Friday in room 19c around 3.00pm. Registrar Chaun Ng warned the three that they must appear when summonsed. Seated in the front row of the public gallery, Gertos said that if he had known about the summons, "I would've been here".

The three, all connected to Camperdown firm Gertos Savell Katos (GSK), were originally summonsed to appear on Monday, November 23, 2015.

Lawyers acting for creditors of bankrupt artistic agent Dolores Lavin are keen to scrutinise arrangements which have seen title to a $3.8 million Potts Point apartment pass from a family trust controlled by Lavin as trustee to a family trust controlled by a trustee company called Billy Buckle Pty Ltd controlled by Gertos.

Of the three only Savell was delivered to the court under arrest. His lawyer James Jordan portrayed it as unfortunate and unnecessary, telling the registrar that five minutes after Savell had advised him he was preparing to surrender voluntarily, a pair of agents from the Australian Federal Police executed the warrant and brought him in. Alha and Gertos surrendered voluntarily.

Unaccustomed to issuing arrest warrants, Registrar Ng accepted undertakings from the three to comply with their summonses and declared the arrest warrants void. The summonses now require Gertos and Savell to produce documents and Alha to present herself for examination tomorrow.