As the Kimberley cruise boat fell into the hands of Hall Chadwick insolvency partner Richard Albarran, reporter Stephanie Tran covers the secret loans network behind the firm.
One of the country’s most senior insolvency practitioners, Hall Chadwick managing partner Richard Albarran, is linked through his family trust to a sweeping security interest over the parent company of the lender that appointed him receiver in multiple cases.
ASIC filings show the trustee for the Albarran Family Trust No. 2 holds a registered general security interest over Blackbird Mortgage Corporation Pty Ltd, the company that sits atop a lending structure which ultimately appointed Mr Albarran to the receivership of Kimberly Pearl Tours.
The same corporate chain reveals that Blackbird Mortgage Corporation wholly owns Blackbird Private Equity Pty Ltd, the entity that appointed Mr Albarran and his colleague Brent Kijurina as receivers and managers of the Kimberly Pearl in January.
Private lenders, brokers and liquidators. It’s a murky world.
The Parramatta Suite
At the centre of the network is a modest Parramatta address – Suite 1, 5 Macquarie Street – which serves as the registered office or principal place of business for a web of Blackbird-branded lending entities, associated shareholder vehicles and CPA Partners Financial Services.
CPA Partners Financial Services itself is owned in equal thirds by entities linked to the Garcia, Delgado and Locaputo families. One of those vehicles, JAY D Pty Ltd, holds 30 per cent of Blackbird Mortgage Corporation. The shares are held non-beneficially, JAY D Pty Ltd holds them as trustee or nominee for a beneficial owner who is not disclosed on the face of the public record.
The remaining 70 per cent is held by Blackbird Finance Pty Ltd, which is recorded as the ultimate holding company of Blackbird Mortgage Corporation.
The Albarran Family Trust
A PPSR registration dated August 24, 2021 shows the trustee for the Albarran Family Trust No. 2 as a secured party over Blackbird Mortgage Corporation. The collateral class is “all present and after-acquired property – no exceptions”.
CPA Partners Financial Services is listed as a co-secured party on the same registration.
The effect of the security is expansive, any assets held now or in the future by Blackbird Mortgage Corporation fall within the scope of the security.
That includes its wholly owned subsidiary, Blackbird Private Equity and by extension the proceeds of receiverships conducted by the company.
The PPSR registration has not been updated to reflect a 2025 name change from Blackbird First Mortgage Corporation.
Blackbird and Hall Chadwick lending and receivership network
The appointment loop
Records show Blackbird Private Equity was incorporated in 2022 and has been wholly owned by Blackbird Mortgage Corporation since inception.
On January 22 this year, it appointed Mr Albarran and Mr Kijurina as receivers and managers of Kimberly Pearl Tours.
That followed an earlier lending round through a parallel structure involving BPE Loans 2 Pty Ltd and Merlot Loan Services, also linked back to Blackbird Finance.
In August 2025, $100,000 was disbursed from Blackbird Private Equity to Hall Chadwick, recorded as part of a refinance drawdown connected to that earlier appointment.
Three months into the receivership, Blackbird Private Equity appointed administrators from Mackay Goodwin to Kimberly Pearl Tours.
A declaration lodged by the administrators disclosed prior cross-referral work with Hall Chadwick. Mackay Goodwin’s founder, Domenic Calabretta, was previously a Hall Chadwick partner for more than a decade.
The effect of the dual appointments was to displace the company’s director entirely, consolidating control of the company’s affairs in the external appointees.
Before the court
The same structure has already been aired in the Federal Court.
In proceedings brought by a Margaret River winemaker, counsel alleged Mr Albarran had a pecuniary interest in the Blackbird group and pointed to the PPSR registration held by his family trust.
Justice Michael Lee subsequently made consent orders restraining the receivers from dealing with certain assets and from entering specified properties without notice.
The allegations have not been tested. Mr Albarran did not respond to a request for comment.
Stephanie is a journalist with a background in both law and journalism. She has worked at The Guardian and as a paralegal, where she assisted Crikey’s defence team in the high-profile defamation case brought by Lachlan Murdoch. Her reporting has been recognised nationally, earning her the 2021 Democracy’s Watchdogs Award for Student Investigative Reporting and a nomination for the 2021 Walkley Student Journalist of the Year Award.