Maribyrnong councillor Pradeep Tiwari has been sued for hundreds of thousands of dollars after he allegedly defaulted on a loan, but he says the issue stems from a miscommunication and has been fixed.
ANZ Bank filed a Supreme Court lawsuit against Tiwari on Monday, claiming the former mayor owed $379,463 after he borrowed money for his business in 2020.
A writ released to The Age on Thursday evening revealed the bank has demanded possession of Tiwari’s warehouse in Hoppers Crossing as it was offered up as security for the $474,035 business loan.
Tiwari allegedly failed to repay $26,765 in arrears owed in November, prompting a letter from ANZ to demand he do so by January 5 or face mortgage enforcement proceedings.
Tiwari runs Indian supermarket Bharat Traders on Barkly Street in West Footscray and was elected to the local council as a Labor-aligned candidate in 2024 after serving as president of the local traders association for seven years.
He did not respond to questions from The Age about the legal action against him until Friday evening, when he said in a brief text message: “This was a private matter between me and ANZ which has already been sorted.”
Pressed for more answers, he said on Saturday that ANZ had written to him saying it would no longer pursue legal action, but did not share evidence of the correspondence when asked.
“This matter relates to a temporary repayment issue which arose due to a breakdown in communication, as the bank had outdated contact details for me,” he said.
“As soon as I became aware of the issue, I engaged directly with ANZ and have since brought repayments back on track. ANZ has confirmed in writing that, following this engagement, they are not pursuing any legal action.”
The Supreme Court confirmed on Friday night that no notice of discontinuance had been filed in the lawsuit against Tiwari. ANZ declined to comment, saying it did not speak about individual customer cases.
Tiwari also said on Saturday his overdue repayments totalled only about $10,000.
“At no point has this impacted my ability to perform my duties as a councillor, and my personal financial matters remain separate from my public responsibilities,” he said.
However, Tiwari’s finances may impact his eligibility to serve as a councillor, as the Local Government Act deems a person unqualified if they are an undischarged bankrupt, or have property that is subject to control under bankruptcy laws.
But it is unlikely Tiwari’s alleged debt will lead to bankruptcy.
The sale of his property at 25 Richards Road in Hoppers Crossing – if the Supreme Court were to grant ANZ possession – would probably cover his alleged debt as he paid $395,000 for the warehouse in 2004, records show.
The site was previously used as a wholesale store for Bharat Traders before it was advertised for lease in January.
Tiwari also faced legal troubles while serving as mayor last year.
A warrant was briefly issued for his arrest in August after he failed to attend a court hearing for a dangerous driving charge.
That allegation was eventually dropped, but he was fined $450 without conviction in October for driving with an unrestrained passenger, having been spotted on CityLink with a young child on his lap in June 2024.
His lawyer told the court Tiwari had been suspended from the council as a result of the charges, and had suffered from media coverage over his “inadvertent failure” to appear in court.
In a Facebook post after the verdict, Tiwari said reports of his arrest warrant were false and misleading as he was unaware of his court date or charges before he became a wanted man.
He added: “My child is a Houdini, and had slipped out from the seat belt and I sat them on my lap, safely, while driving to the nearest place at which I could safely pull over.”
Tiwari stood for another year-long term as mayor in November, but lost a council vote to Mohamed Semra.
Maribyrnong Council declined to comment on the recent legal action against Tiwari, describing the civil lawsuit as a private matter.
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