PAR and RV Scragg Trading as Peter Scragg and Associates v Vonta

This matter concerned an application by Yana Vonta to review a sequestration order made against her estate by Registrar Parkyn of the Federal Circuit Court of Australia. The sequestration order was sought by the respondent, Peter Scragg & Associates, a firm of solicitors, who had previously obtained judgment against Ms Vonta in the Magistrates Court of South Australia for unpaid professional fees. The firm contended that Ms Vonta had committed an act of bankruptcy by failing to comply with a bankruptcy notice issued subsequent to the judgment.

The court was required to determine whether the sequestration order should be discharged. This involved considering Ms Vonta's grounds for review, namely that both the bankruptcy notice and the creditor's petition were not properly served upon her, and that the court should exercise its discretion not to make the sequestration order. The court also had to assess whether the applicant had discharged the onus of proving the matters required by section 52(1) of the *Bankruptcy Act 1966* (Cth), including the existence of the debt, service of the petition, and the commission of an act of bankruptcy.

Judge Brown dismissed Ms Vonta's application for review. The court found that the evidence established proper service of the bankruptcy notice, relying on the affidavit of Mr Whelan, a licensed commercial agent, who deposed to personally delivering the notice to Ms Vonta's mailbox and observing a person matching her description collect it. Furthermore, the court noted that Ms Vonta's subsequent application to set aside the Magistrates Court judgment, which was dismissed, indicated her awareness of the proceedings and the debt. The court also found that Ms Vonta had failed to establish sufficient cause for the sequestration order not to be made, including demonstrating a counter-claim, set-off, or cross-demand equal to or exceeding the debt.

Consequently, the application for review of the sequestration order was dismissed. The petitioning creditor, Peter Scragg & Associates, was awarded its costs of the review, to be paid from the estate of the bankrupt in accordance with the *Bankruptcy Act 1966*.