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Herd on the Terrace: Rimfire faces battle with Anton Billis, Oliver Douglas as old mate ousted
You need deep pockets to take on gold zillionaire Anton Billis, a man so modest he has reputedly worn the same army surplus jacket since being briefly jailed for a bankruptcy offence dating back to 1990.
And you need to be savvy to tackle his mate Oliver Douglas, a former big league banker who has starred in all sorts of legal and financial battles since the collapse of CK Yap’s Sun Sovereign in 1989.
Critical minerals wishful Rimfire Pacific will need bucks and brains as Billis and Douglas lead new litigation against the Melbourne outfit.
Douglas told the Bull that “the war chest is huge” as Golden Plains Resources tries to stop Rimfire terminating the Billis-backed company’s right to earn a 51 per cent stake in the Fifield project.
Private Billis companies last month won a Victorian Supreme Court application to wrestle Golden Plains off his former close friend Michael Giovinazzo.
Billis stood by Giovinazzo after the one-time gambling addict was jailed by the Perth District Court in 1999 for swindling investors of $235,000.
Justice Michael Osborne’s judgment reminds us that Billis was best man at Giovinazzo’s wedding and gave him a Nissan Patrol.
Perth stockbroker Gerry Connelly introduced Giovinazzo to then Rimfire chief executive Craig Foley in 2020 and they set up an earn-in agreement for Fifield through Golden Plains.
Billis’ private companies provided $3.8m directly or indirectly to Rimfire before his four-decade friendship with Giovinazzo crumbled in 2022.
Giovinazzo then borrowed money through his accountant at an interest rates of 20 per cent-plus to fund Rimfire obligations.
Justice Osborne said Giovinazzo conducted aspects of his affairs in an unorthodox manner. “Weird is an apt description for a number of aspects of Mr Giovinazzo’s dealings,” the judge said.
His Honour squashed a share issue in 2022 that overwhelming diluted Billis’ majority stake in Golden Plains. He removed Giovinazzo as a director and affirmed the appointments of Douglas and Billis’ Rand Mining loyal wing man Roland Berzins.
Douglas, 74, was happy to share his highlights of the Giovinazzo decision as he looks forward to the injunction fight with Rimfire.
“I am having a lot of fun in my twilight years,” he said.
BankWest keeping toe in physical realm
WA’s beloved Bankwest is not being entirely banished from the physical realm as owner Commonwealth Bank closes or re-brands all branches.
We provide this assurance despite the Bankwest signage being removed from the former State-owned bank’s Murray Street headquarters this week.
When we called to check on the sign’s fate, marketing boss Jodene Murphy described its removal as an “exciting moment” and assured us that Bankwest’s tweaked branding would be put onto the building over the next month.
“All signage at Bankwest Place, which will continue to be known as such, will transition to our refreshed branding,” she said in a statement.
But, sadly, she confirms Bankwest operations are being vanquished to the digital world.
Camera IconBankwest singage being removed from their head office at Raine Square in the CBD. Credit: Iain Gillespie/The West AustralianQatar information Virgin on ridiculous
Amid all the puffery, there is one glaring gap in the information about Qatar Airways proposed investment in Virgin Australia.
Neither airline would answer our questions about whether Qatar could reduce Perth and other Australian services when Virgin starts flying to Doha using jets leased from the mooted shareholder.
If no reasonable undertakings can be provided, the Federal Government should kill the deal.
Kraken pays price of mystical name
Crypto trading platform operator Kraken fired out a missive this week bemoaning a Australian Federal Police operation targeting bikies and various rogues.
The crypto crew was peeved at the raids and arrests focused on users of the underworld app Ghost being titled Operation Kraken, saying it all had “absolutely nothing to do with our brand”.
Kraken’s branding tossers at should have thought of this before they borrowed the name of a Nordic mythical sea monster linked to all sort of horrors over the centuries.
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