Predatory lending. Indigenous elders blame liquidators over Kimberley tourism debacle

The Aboriginal Land Council has raised concerns of financial exploitation by the Kimberley cruise operator run by insolvency firm Hall Chadwick. Stephanie Tran reports.

Just last year, leading liquidator Richard Albarran rang the bell at the NASDAQ Stock Exchange in New York to celebrate his firm’s $207 million IPO, as Hall Chadwick realized a new chapter in his ambitious dreams of global expansion.

Now he is embroiled in a damaging dispute with indigenous leaders in Australia amid accusations of financial fraud.

Indigenous elders have intervened in a Federal Court dispute over the Kimberley Pearl charter ship, accusing the lender and buyer of conduct that devastated an Aboriginal-owned tourism business and put an Aboriginal family’s home at risk.

Amaroo Aboriginal Land Council has expressed “serious concern” about the treatment of Daniel Brown, an Aboriginal man and sole director of Kimberley Pearl Tours Pty Ltd, in a strongly worded letter from Hall Chadwick to buyer Richard Albarran.

The intervention comes as proceedings are ongoing in the Federal Court of Australia over buyers’ attempts to sell the Kimberley Pearl, which is at the center of a dispute over a loan that private lender Blackbird and Brown said went from $470,000 to more than $1.2 million in 18 months.

great concern

“The Council writes to record in the strongest terms its deep concern about your and the Blackbird group’s conduct as the lender and receiver of Kimberly Pearl Tours Pty Ltd,” the letter states.

“The council is seriously concerned about this.” [Mr Brown] He was lent out and cared for in a way that took advantage of his position and could not deal with him fairly.”

The council also said it was “deeply wrong” to secure the home of Brown’s mother-in-law, who is Aboriginal and whose family resides on the property.

“Such behavior is the kind of behavior that the law has long condemned as unconscionable,” the letter states.

Blackbird Capital Group under investigation ($) The lawsuit was filed by the class action law firm Adero Law over allegations of unfair lending practices that charged up to 60% interest on business loans.

According to Brown, the dispute is much more than a tourism business.

Liquidator: “I am happy that I lost 350 thousand dollars, let the boat go to scrap”

Kimberley Pearl

Kimberley Pearl runs cultural and wilderness tours in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, taking visitors to ancient Aboriginal rock art sites and nationally significant cultural sites.

Working with Aboriginal elders in the Kimberley, Arnhem Land and the Torres Strait, Brown developed the journeys as a platform to share Indigenous stories, knowledge and cultural practices with visitors.

“I am a proud Aboriginal man,” Brown said.

“This ship takes people to the Kimberley to experience the oldest living culture on Earth. That’s what’s sold under me.”

The Amaroo Aboriginal Land Council described the work as an important tool for the preservation and transmission of Indigenous cultural knowledge.

“Operated through Mr Brown, the KPT transported passengers across the Kimberley and shared with them the culture of life of the Australian Aborigines, the oldest continuously living culture on Earth,” the letter states.

“He did this in partnership with some of the most respected elders of the Kimberley, Arnhem Land and the Torres Strait.”

Federal Court battle

The Indigenous leaders’ intervention comes as Federal Court proceedings are ongoing between Brown, Hall Chadwick, Blackbird Private Capital and a number of related parties.

Brown claimed the will was improperly executed and objected to efforts to sell the ship.

The dispute was further escalated when allegations emerged that the Albarran Family Trust No.2 held a registered general security interest in Blackbird Mortgage Corporation Pty Ltd, which owns the Blackbird subsidiary which appointed it as trustee.

Richard Albarran, Hall Chadwick and Blackbird Private Equity have denied allegations of wrongdoing.

In response to questions MWMBlackbird Private Equity claimed Kimberley Pearl Tours executives “identified $288,000 worth of non-commercial transactions in their reports.”

The substance of the allegations has not yet been determined by the Court and Daniel Brown said: MWM in a statement:

“I deny the allegations in their entirety. According to the affidavit, it will be vigorously defended and I will submit it to trial through the ordinary process.”

“My focus throughout was to save the ship, protect the business and ensure these matters were determined appropriately and based on evidence.”

business destruction

The Land Council estimates the collapse of Kimberly Pearl Tours caused losses of between $6 million and $8 million and destroyed “a vibrant Aboriginal-led business”.

But elders say the damage goes beyond financial losses. The journeys gave visitors access to cultural stories and histories entrusted to Brown by senior Aboriginal guardians. According to the council, these stories and traditions were shared with the aim of passing them on to future generations.

“The loss experienced is not only economic,” the letter says.

“This is the loss of a unique and irreplaceable tool through which Aboriginal culture and Country can be respected and shared.”

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Stephanie is a journalist with a background in both law and journalism. He worked at The Guardian and as a paralegal, where he assisted Crikey’s defense team in the high-profile libel case brought by Lachlan Murdoch. His reporting has been recognized nationally, earning him the 2021 Guardians of Democracy Award for Student Investigative Reporting and a nomination for the 2021 Walkley Student Journalist of the Year Award.