GOLD Coast businessman Craig Gore failed in his legal bid yesterday to oust the new trustee overseeing his personal insolvency agreement.
Justice John Logan ruled in Brisbane Federal Court that Mr Gore had no prima facie case against accountant Anthony Warner and he dismissed the application.
Mr Gore, who was ordered to pay costs, alleged that Mr Warner was not fit for the job because of perceived conflicts.
An overwhelming number of Mr Gore’s creditors, who are owed $495 million, voted to appoint Mr Warner after they removed original trustee Max Prentice on December 23.
They had expressed frustration with the way Mr Prentice was overseeing the Part X agreement, which requires Mr Gore repay just $3.3 million and 30 per cent of any profits in a trust over three years.
Mr Prentice defended his work despite only making a few payments to select creditors just days before he was removed and no money went to the trust.
Creditors want a rigorous probe of Mr Gore’s business activities and sources of income.
That work is expected to include a public examination later this year.
Mr Gore, who recently hosted a lavish party at Sanctuary Cove with his new wife, has denied having hidden assets.
He alleged Mr Warner was conflicted in part because his business partner, Steven Kugel, was a liquidator of Mr Gore’s firm Secured Capital & Finance.
Mr Kugel wrote in a report to creditors in 2010 that he believed the company had operated as “something akin to a Ponzi scheme”.
Mr Gore, who angrily denied that allegation, did not return calls yesterday.