ROD Culleton is facing further legal proceedings today over a creditors’ petition seeking to recover about $4 million in alleged debts - including from individual farmers and farm businesses - intertwined with his existing bankruptcy ruling.
“I’ve got better things to do than deal with this nonsense; it is deficient and incurable and has no basis in actual fact,” he said of the petition.
Mr Culleton was declared bankrupt by a Federal Court ruling on December 23, over a long-running claim by former neighbour and ex-Wesfarmers director Dick Lester, for $280,000 stemming from a farm property lease and purchase deal and arrangement to sell oats that soured in early 2010.
That ruling led to Mr Culleton being told he was formally disqualified from federal parliament last week, ending his brief but controversial political stint as a Senator following last year’s election.
But he’s described as premature the formal correspondence sent by Senate President Stephen Parry to the Governor of Western Australia detailing a vacancy in the state’s representation and has vowed to fight the decision, with another legal challenge.
However the petition that cites Mr Lester’s company Balwyn Nominees as the first petitioning creditor was filed in the Federal Court on December 22 last year, by former Bremer Bay farmer Frank Bertola, posing a new threat to Mr Culleton’s estate.
Mr Bertola was an associate of Mr Culleton’s when the two men shared common grievances over bank-lending practices and forced farm foreclosures, via the Rural Action Movement (RAM) group.
But they suffered a nasty split which saw Mr Bertola join forces with Bruce Bell who has used his legal knowledge to try and push a claim to have Mr Culleton expelled from federal parliament by testing his legal eligibility, in the High Court.
That matter is being considered via another High Court referral from the Senate, for a conviction recorded against Mr Culleton in a NSW court for a tow-truck key theft which was eventually annulled - but stood when his nomination form was signed, ahead of the 2016 election.
Mr Culleton pleaded guilty to that charge in August last year following the annulment decision with no conviction was recorded against him.
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has also endured a nasty public fall-out with the ex-Williams farmer and businessman, after he split from her party post-election to turn independent and is now anxiously waiting the High Court’s ruling to determine how the Senate vacancy may be filled.
Mr Bell and Mr Bertola were arrested at the bankruptcy hearing in Perth on December 23, in a scene that disrupted the court proceedings, due to an alleged breach of a Violence Restraining Oder (VRO) taken out by Mr Culleton’s wife Ioanna.
In early January, that VRO matter and a fresh application were being dealt with in the Magistrates Court in Perth, when afterwards former WA Upper House Liberal member and Kojonup farmer Anthony Fels - who has also made claims to try and win the vacant One Nation Senate post - served a summons on Mr Culleton related to Mr Bertola’s creditors’ petition.
But in serving the papers, he became embroiled in an ugly physical clash which saw Mr Culleton drop to the pavement, outside the court, and attend hospital afterwards to assess his injuries.
Mr Bertola’s creditors’ claim lists a first case management hearing that’s due to be held in Perth today, (January 16).
He is applying to the court for a sequestration order under the Bankruptcy Act against Mr Culleton’s estate and is personally seeking to recover $65,000.
That sum includes money he claims was paid directly to Mr Culleton’s Sydney based barrister Peter King, but was, “never repaid by the respondent as promised” the document says.
Mr Bertola is also trying to recoup personal payments made for other legal matters, with the highest being $25,000, that he says Mr Culleton received between September 2014 and March 2016.
“I did personally comply with a series of requests for money, then additional money, then even more money, from the respondent debtor,” he claimed in the petition.
Mr Bertola alleges he gave the money to Mr Culleton to help manage his individual claim against the ANZ Bank relating to the loss of his sheep and grain farm - valued at about $20m - but was dissatisfied with the lack of action.
In the petition, he said Mr Culleton “made promises he had no intention of fulfilling in my case and in many others to my knowledge” and made repeated requests for that money to be returned but a reasonable time-frame elapsed, in March last year.
“I gave him notice that I wanted all monies I had assisted him with repaid in full by the end of the financial year (June 30, 2016),” he wrote.
Mr Bertola claims Mr Culleton also collected funds for legal advice and work linked to a potential class action claim for farmers with common concerns about asset devaluations - after the Landmark loans book was sold to the ANZ Bank - which has forced them into receivership since 2010, like he and Mr Culleton.
He said given his former associate had now been declared bankrupt by the court, it would assist the claim to recover money allegedly owed to the 40 creditors.
“The creditors’ petition will be joined to the claim in the Federal Court – it just adds to the list,” he said.
“The technicality of it is, whether Rodney makes an appearance or not on January 16, it will be dealt with in formality and the petition will be forwarded onto his bankruptcy trustee and there should be some happy farmers from it all.
”This is a walk in the park now once everyone works out what’s actually happened.”
However, Mr Culleton returned fire saying Mr Bertola’s creditors’ petition was “deficient and incurable and a crock of nonsense”.
He said he certainly wouldn’t be appearing at the hearing in person and did not believe he needed to – but may phone in or use legal representation.
“This document should have been vetted by the registrar and clearly it has not been and I don’t even see how a court can let this run,” he said.
Mr Culleton denied he owed Mr Bertola $65,000.
“What needs to happen is, Frank Bertola needs to produce the cheque-butt stubs or electronic transfer and or a receipt from us; there’s nothing there supporting that at all,” he said.
“Did I receive that money; no I did not.”
But Mr Culleton agreed a $2500 payment had been made to Mr King, by Mr Bertola’s wife, for legal work
He also claimed he wasn’t properly served papers by Mr Fels, during the fracas outside the court in Perth.
But Mr Fels was adamant he served the documents legally and vehemently rejected any allegation he’d assaulted Mr Culleton during that process.
He said a video of the incident - which was subject to a policy inquiry which had not led to any charges being laid - proved that Mr Culleton had fallen over his associate, during the exchange.
“Do not believe anything you hear and only half of what you see with Rodney,” he said.
“All I’ve done is to go about my right to serve a legal court document.
“There was nothing illegal or improper about what I did.”
Mr Bertola said Mr Culleton “always denies he’s been served but he’s been served”.
“I was standing more than 60 metres away watching and Anthony bent down, lifted Rodney’s coat, popped it underneath and said, ‘You have been served’,” he said.
His petition also said the 40 creditors were contacted and identified as “bona fide creditors of the respondent”.
The list includes money allegedly owed to various grain suppliers and grain traders, and farm input suppliers and other businesses linked to Mr Culleton’s horse feed business Elite Grains which operated out of his farm at Williams.
The petition also cites several individual farmers and various legal firms and includes an amount of $1m “plus” owed to Mr Lester as a judgment creditor.
The petition lists an alleged debt of $50,000 owed to Lake Grace farmer Bruce Bishop who told Fairfax Media he paid the money to Mr Culleton willingly but his name was added to Mr Bertola’s claim, without his approval.
“I told Frank I didn’t want to be involved in any witch hunt,” he said.
Mr Bishop said he provided the money to Mr Culleton in about 2014 which helped guide a successful negotiation on his behalf that ultimately saved his farm from foreclosure.
He said a deal was finalised with the ANZ Bank in February 2016 which included a gag order but a “satisfactory settlement” was achieved, like Mr Dixon and others.
Mr Bishop said Mr Culleton’s liaison on his behalf also included attending court hearings during the dispute process and an introduction to Sydney lawyer Stewart Levitt who took over the concluding negotiations.
“I regard Rodney as a friend and I’m still farming,” he said.
“Rod Culleton helped me negotiate a settlement and I’ve been able to survive.
“I’m still banking with the ANZ and everything’s going smoothly; they’ve changed their attitude.”
Mr Bishop said he believed Mr Culleton managed a pool of funds that was used to assist with legal representation and advice for other distressed farmers throughout Australia – potentially up to 40 – who suffered similar issues with banks.
Another WA farmer listed on the petition is Bruce Dixon of Cuballing in WA’s south-eastern Wheatbelt, where an incident on his farm - which helped thwart a bank foreclosure process in March 2015 - led to Mr Culleton being charged with an alleged vehicle theft that’s due for a four day trial to be held in Perth later this year.
Mr Bertola’s petition claims Mr Dixon is owed $150,000 with the money having been paid into the account of Mr Culleton’s company, DEQMO.
But Mr Culleton said Mr Dixon would no longer be farming, if not for the unconventional intervention he spearheaded - which also involved Mr Bertola - where hay bales blocked the receivers’ car in on the farm.
He said he never received any money personally but it went into a farmer fighting fund to assist with legal costs.
He also denied Mr Bertola’s claim that he had obtained money off farmers by making promises that he had no intention of fulfilling.
“The farmers that have still got their properties, that we’ve saved - including houses that they’ve put up for security - I don’t see them complaining at all in this,” he said.
Mr Culleton denied he owed Mr Dixon $150,000.
“I’ve never received an invoice of any such sort to say that I do,” he said.
“Bruce Dixon did put monies into a growers’ pool that basically kept those growers producing on their properties - they weren’t making farm payments at the time.
“We kept them on their farm and they were making a contribution to the cause of all, not just to me personally, so I deny all that.”
Mr Dixon did not return calls from Fairfax Media but has previously said there was never any written agreement - but he believed money was also going towards fighting a common cause, with other aggrieved farmers, on legal issues connected with the Landmark loans book.
“We just voluntarily gave him (Mr Culleton) money, when he requested it, thinking that most of it was going to go to support a class action but ANZ circumnavigated the class action by settling privately with most of the people who were going to be in it,” he said last year.
“There was other stuff that we gave money for, which was meant to pay for his lawyers or to pay to get machinery out of hock - so it was to help him directly.
“We gave the money basically as a friend and I still regard him as a friend.”
Others alleged creditors listed on the petition – contacted by Fairfax Media – expressed indifference towards their alleged debts.
A Perth based stock-feed manufacturer who asked not to be named said they were owed money by Mr Culleton and knew the business was listed on Mr Bertola’s creditors’ petition but did not want to get involved in the new legal action.
Paul Cooke of Advanced Feeds in Midvale WA said he was owed about $160,000 for stock feed additive supplied to Mr Culleton’s company Elite Grains.
But Mr Cooke said he didn’t believe there was any money “in the kitty” and did not want to send good money after bad money, by paying any legal costs.
He said a recent creditors’ meeting had also proven futile where Mr Culleton spoke for 15-minutes about the company’s debts “but we were none the wiser”.
“He has the gift of speaking for long periods of time but saying nothing,” he said.
The creditors’ petition also listed an alleged claim of $40,000 owed to Kojonup based Mathews Transport and Grain Suppliers.
Proprietor Neville Mathews said he’d pursued Mr Culleton for $39,510.57 for invoices issued in September and November 2011, for grain supplied to the mill of his Williams farm-based business, Elite Grains, to be de-hulled and converted to horse feed.
Mr Mathews said his business had operated in the region for over 30-years and he’d known Mr Culleton for a long-time and they had met for coffee near where they shared an apartment in South Perth.
“Rodney had a firm handshake and would look you in the eye; he was a likeable guy,” he said.
Mr Mathews provided copies of the invoices for the grain deliveries made by his company to Elite Grains and further correspondence to Mr Culleton, seeking to recoup the outstanding debt.
“As discussed today the 8th March 2012 at 3:40 pm by telephone, you agreed that you pay 50 per cent of the outstanding amount owed to us by COB Friday 23rd March 2012,” one letter from the company said.
“The amount to be paid $19,755.57.
“The balance of $19,755.00 is to be paid by COB Monday 23rd April 2012.
“We have in good faith tried to be as fair as possible with this overdue account and we do expect payment on the agreed above dates.
“If payment is not made as agreed upon unfortunately we will be left with no other choice but to take action.”
Mr Mathews said the debt remained unpaid and he was aware it had now been listed on Mr Bertola’s petition which he welcomed.
But Mr Culleton has repeatedly insisted he isn’t insolvent and can repay his debts, when they fall due.
“I’ve got full carriage of what I’m doing - I know what I’m doing with it all - I’m not panicking,” he said.
Mr Culleton said creditors on the petition “might be involved” with Elite Grains which he had allowed the court to appoint a liquidator for, to investigate the ANZ’s “defunking” of his company and farm which was “yet to play out”.
“Elite Grains was the company that ANZ came in and absolutely annihilated and I allowed it to go into liquidation because it became a major crime scene in relation to the actions of the ANZ Bank,” he said.
“I was removed as a director - it appears there are a lot of purported creditors but I don’t believe that they are creditors - and if they were, they’d have cross-claims,” he said.
“I don’t even know if the individuals (Mr Bertola) has named on (the petition) are true and correct individuals or trading entities.
“Dick Lester is not a judgment creditor for one million bucks - he’s a judgment creditor for $280,000 so that’s a bit of an overkill isn’t it and it’s Dick Lester not Balwyn Nominees?
“Looking at the face of it and the amounts, they are clearly incorrect; it’s made up.”
Mr Culleton said he was the inventor of a “revolutionary concept” that many people had stopped using since ANZ came in and “busted the business”.
“The real issue is how the ANZ have prevented me from doing my directors’ duty and being able to honestly pay the creditors,” he said.
“They came along to my farm and it was essentially like coming into the cockpit while my plane was flying on auto pilot and the weather conditions were beautiful,” he said.
“And they said ‘look we’re happy to sit in here, you can take a bathroom break’ and what they did, while I went out, they locked the cockpit door and they basically drove the plane into the side of a cliff and that’s exactly the way to describe it.
“They have hijacked my companies - since 2012 - they got judgements against the company when I was in the UK as a proud Australian selling a great invention to the royal family.”
A document by FTI Consulting says Mr Culleton was declared bankrupt in October 2014, with the petitioning creditor being Macquarie Leasing.
It said Mr Culleton made an application to set aside the bankruptcy – along with other legal moves - but it was dismissed by the Federal Court in March 2015.