Warren Anderson sues Angas in Fernhill, Mulgoa saga

The former property developer Warren Anderson is suing the mortgage fund, Angas Securities and his receivers KordaMentha.

He is seeking $174 million, claiming they acted inappropriately in selling up his assets and forcing him into bankruptcy.

The lodgement of the statement of claim by Warren Anderson and his children, revealed today in The Australian, comes as shares in Angas on second-tier bourse the National Stock Exchange of Australia were suspended from trading yesterday given its wider concerns.

The Australian on Tuesday revealed Angas, which owes investors $220 million, had missed another deadline to repay investors.

Facing major financial problems, Angas has failed to meet any of the first three instalments in time and in full and trustee The Trust Company has said it is now “deeply concerned” Angas will not be able to make the payments.

The Anderson issue arose after Anderson’s family trust Owston Nominees No 2 borrowed money from Angas.

In March 2009 Angas appointed receivers KordaMentha to the trust following a breakdown of Mr Anderson’s marriage.

KordaMentha and Angas took control of Owston’s biggest asset, the Fernhill mansion at Mulgoa in western Sydney.

A spokeswoman for KordaMentha told the Australia the firm was not handling the case because the two former partners who had overseen the Owston receivership, Chris Powell and Stephan Duncan, were no longer with the company.

Their Adelaide-based firm DuncanPowell would be responding to Mr Anderson’s claims, she said, although they had not yet been served so were unable to comment.

Fernhill is currently for sale. Set on 383 hectares at the foot of the Blue Mountains, its stunning seven bedroom sandstone residence was completed in the 1840s for the Cox pioneering family.