Doctor potentially owing over £300m has bankruptcy extended

Friday 19 February 2021

A Jersey doctor facing claims from creditors of more than £300m has had her bankruptcy extended for another three years.

The Royal Court approved of the extension under the Bankruptcy Law, which will see Dr Gail Cochrane remain 'en désastre' until November 2023.

Dr Cochrane was officially deemed bankrupt in 2016, alongside the company Orb, for which she was believed to be sole shareholder at the time, with a number of creditors claiming sums that racked up collectively to over £1bn.

Pictured: Dr Cochrane potentially owes up to £305,261,798.37 to creditors.

In 2017, however, she claimed that she owned very little and was not able to pay the creditors. 

According to a Royal Court judgment dated last month but only made public this week, the court heard how "the claims filed by potential creditors in Dr Cochrane’s désastre total £305,261,798.37", though the Viscount has not yet conducted an inspection of the creditors' claims.

In the four-year period since the désastre, Dr Cochrane’s income has been put into an account to the order of the Viscount for the purpose of paying the creditors.

Out of some £360,000 received into the account, £308,000 has been distributed to or for the benefit Dr Cochrane, “covering her medical professional indemnity insurance, her personal living costs, rent and certain other payments that have been agreed with the Viscount.”

The Viscount has also taken control of certain realisable assets of Dr Cochrane’s, valued at approximately £75,000.

However, due to an ongoing High Court legal case in England, involving her former husband who has previously been convicted on fraud charges, the ownership of many of Dr Cochrane’s possessions remain the subject of proceedings, with "uncertainty" still hanging over how they will be distributed.

This also accounts for the reason that inspection of all claims has not been conducted yet, with the Viscount feeling it "unfair to put the creditors to the cost of proving their claims in circumstances where the English Proceedings are likely to result in the effective adjudication of many of their claims, and there are presently no assets available for distribution."

As it has now been four years since the original declaration of désastre, the Viscount had to make a choice to either discharge Dr Cochrane of the désastre, or extend it.

Pictured: Dr Cochrane's former husband is currently in the Commercial Court, owing around £70m to creditors.

Summing up the reasons for the extension, the Royal Court stated that “the Viscount has not yet completed her investigations into the affairs of Dr Cochrane or the claims that have been filed by her creditor.” 

Referring to the ongoing High Court trial, they noted its complexity, adding: “...Until the English Proceedings are finally determined, including any appeals, it remains unclear whether and to what extent there will be any assets available to meet these claims.”

They concluded that “the balance of justice came firmly down on the side of granting the extension, so that the English Proceedings can resolve both what assets will be available to meet the claims of her creditors and the effectively adjudicate many of their claims.”

However, the Viscount proposed that in the event it became feasible for Dr Cochrane to make an appeal to have her désastre discharged before November 2023, the matter should be brought back before the court.