The Court held that the defendant failed to discharge his onus of proving an oral variation of loan agreements whereby the deceased lender allegedly forgave repayment of $3.7M in principal. The defendant's account was rejected on credibility grounds and because his post-alleged-variation conduct — including instructing his accountant to propose a repayment plan and continuing interest payments after the lender's death — was inconsistent with the alleged forgiveness. The Court also held, in the alternative, that even if the variation had occurred as alleged, it lacked consideration because the defendant's promise to continue paying interest until the lender's death was merely fulfilment of an existing contractual obligation and constituted illusory consideration under Wigan v Edwards.
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