Indian billionaire couple Pankaj and Radhika Oswal have settled their long-standing legal dispute with ANZ in Australia.
ANZ today announced it had reached a commercial settlement with the Oswals.
OSWALS SATISFIED WITH THE SETTLEMENT
The Oswals said they were satisfied with the outcome. “The Oswals are very satisfied with the settlement and pleased that the matter is over,” the couple’s spokesman said on Thursday.
“They are grateful that the Australian justice system allowed them to tell the Australian public what happened at Burrup before and after the receivership,” the spokesman was quoted saying by news.com.au.
The couple were seeking more than $2.5 billion in the case where the Oswals claimed that the bank had forced them to sell their Western Australian company Burrup Fertilisers at a lower price.
While the amount of settlement has not been made public, Fairfax on Thursday wrote the bank put the full settlement figure at $200 million, with both parties to wear their individual costs.
A $100 million claim against the Oswals has also been dropped. The Oswals have also settled with the Australian Taxation Office and are now free to leave Australia, Herald Sun reported.
DID RADHIKA OSWAL'S TESTIMONY LEAD TO SETTLEMENT?
The legal case came to a halt on 17th August after Mrs. Oswal’s testimony in the Supreme Court of Victoria. She told the court that the bank "had a gun at my head" after threatening she and her husband could be jailed for fraud and their children could become orphans.
Radhika Oswal was due to be cross-examined in the court, following her testimony against bank’s executives but the case was delayed for an unspecified period after the couple and ANZ bank decided to hold settlement talks.
The very next day, it was reported that both the parties may be close to settling their mammoth legal battle.
MONTH LATER, IT IS SETTLED
Finally, a month after Mrs. Oswal’s testimony in the court, the bank today announced that keeping in mind the “quite unusual and complex circumstances, the residual risks for ANZ were too great in the Oswal case.”
ANZ Chief Executive Officer Shayne Elliott today wrote to the staff that the bank did not accept many of the claims made in court and completely rejected the allegations made against staff.
“However, we believe the settlement is the right decision for shareholders bearing in mind the residual risks in a case of this size and complexity,” Mr Elliott said.
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