STX Pan Ocean has won a security for costs for AU$55,000 against David John Thomson, formerly the managing director of Bowen Basin Coal Group.
In [the original] case, the judge found that Mr Thomson was the sole shareholder, managing director and “alter ego” of Bowen Basin. The judge also found that Mr Thomson had made a “brazen” lie and “fraudulent” representations and that caused STX not to terminate a contract of affreightment for which it had not been paid in full.
STX then sought to make Mr Thomson personally liable. In a landmark decision, the Federal Court swept aside the corporate veil.