Petricevic trust wins $30,000 costs fight

Rod Petricevic outside the Auckland District Court. File photo / NZ Herald

Bridgecorp's receivers have been ordered to secure costs of $30,000 before its case against Rod Petricevic's family trust begins, a court judgment revealed today.

Bridgecorp, on behalf of its subsidiary Navigator Finance, has taken action against the trust over a $2.2 million advance it is alleged to be owed.

The case is set for a three-day trial later this month but proceedings will be delayed until the money is either paid to the court or an agreement is made between the trust and Navigator's lawyers.

The money will only be paid to the trust if it wins the case.

High Court Justice Mary Peters said in her judgment that costs should not be refused because the award is of a modest amount.

Petricevic and his wife Mary were the sole directors of Navigator that was set up as an investment vehicle to fund a film, The Navigator.

Navigator alleges that a $2.2 million advance paid to the trust was a loan and has never been repaid to the company.

Petricevic claims there was never a loan agreement between the trust and Navigator, that the money was an advance and that is why is was never repaid.

The company is now in liquidation and the litigation against the trust is being funded by Bridgecorp's receivers, and therefore through investors funds.

In 2008, Bridgecorp's receivers PricewaterhouseCoopers bankrupted Petricevic for a $666,186 tax bill Bridgecorp paid for him in September 2007.