Tonstate Group Limited (in liquidation) & Ors vs Edward Wojakowski & Ors

This case involved a dispute between the Tonstate Group of companies and Edward Wojakowski regarding the recovery of fraudulently extracted company funds.

TLDR:

• Tonstate Group sought further disclosure from Edward Wojakowski regarding fraudulently extracted funds.
• The court ordered Edward to provide information about assets held by Maxima Corporate Holdings Limited and the Wojakowski Brothers Trust.
• Edward's application for further adjournment was refused.
• The court allowed Edward's McKenzie Friend to speak on his behalf due to his health condition.
• The court emphasized the need for Edward to provide information within his knowledge, possession, or control.

The background of this case involves a bitter dispute between Edward Wojakowski and his former business partner, Arthur Maytas, over the Tonstate Group of companies. Edward admitted to fraudulently extracting over £13 million from the company, with funds being transferred to Maxima Corporate Holdings Limited, a BVI company, and subsequently to the Wojakowski Brothers Trust.

The Claimants had partial success in recovering the extracted funds but continued their efforts to recover the remaining amounts. They sought further disclosure from Edward to trace and recover the funds. The court had previously recognized the proprietary nature of the Claimants' claims to recover the funds and had jurisdiction to make orders in aid of enforcement under s. 37 of the Supreme Court Act 1981.

The present application against Edward was initially scheduled for hearing on 10 April 2024 but was adjourned to allow Edward more time to secure legal representation. Despite this, Edward had not secured representation by the adjourned hearing on 14 May. The court refused Edward's application for a further adjournment but allowed his McKenzie Friend, Michael Marx, to speak on his behalf due to Edward's health condition and the importance of the order.

The court ordered Edward to provide information about the assets held by Maxima Corporate Holdings Limited and the Wojakowski Brothers Trust, as well as the ultimate source of funds used to purchase two flats in London. The court emphasized that Edward was only required to provide information within his knowledge, possession, or control and allowed for reasonable efforts to obtain the information.

Edward's McKenzie Friend raised several points, including concerns about the consistency of the order with previous findings and the difficulty of tracing the origin of funds. The court addressed these concerns by clarifying that Edward was not required to undertake a detailed forensic exercise and only needed to provide information to the best of his knowledge and belief.

The court also considered the points raised about an order made by Zacaroli J in January 2020, which required both Edward and Arthur Maytas to provide an account of sums received from the Tonstate Group. The court concluded that Edward could not excuse his default by pointing to someone else's and that the liquidators of the Tonstate Group would need to decide how to proceed against Maytas.

The court allowed Edward a generous period of six weeks to comply with the order due to his health condition and provided provisions for Edward to explain his efforts to obtain the information if he was unable to provide exact details. The court also extended the deadline for making an application for permission to appeal against the order.

Legal representatives: Sam Goodman and Isabelle Winstanley (instructed by Rechtschaffen Law) for the Claimants. The Defendant appeared in person assisted by Michael Marx.

Judicial Panel: Mr Justice Adam Johnson

Case Citation Reference: [2024] EWHC 1245 (Ch)