[3][4] Essentially this was a contest between two innocent parties, the Breskvars and Alban Pty Ltd in relation to the ownership of a two acre block of land at Acacia Ridge, Brisbane, each of who were victims of fraud by Petrie and Wall.

Whoever succeeded would be the owner of the land, while the other party would be left to recovering damages against Petrie and Wall.

The Breskvars were trying to sell the land and discovered that Wall had been registered on the title and lodged a caveat in an attempt to prevent the property from being sold.

The difficulty with the Breskvars claim in this respect was that they had enabled the fraud by signing a blank transfer of the property.

[5] In the Supreme Court of Queensland Justice Graham Hart followed Frazer v Walker and held that Alban Pty Ltd was a bona fide purchaser for value without notice of the fraud and were entitled to be registered as the owners of the land.

The Breskvars were awarded damages against Petrie and Wall and were required to pay the legal costs of Alban Pty Ltd.

When this proved unsuccessful they sought compensation from the assurance fund under s 127 of the Real Property Act 1861-1976 (Qld).

Justice Peter Connolly rejected their claim, holding that the six years ran from when the Breskvars were deprived of their land in 1968, noting that "In many cases a plaintiff under s. 126 would have no way of knowing that the defendant might prove to be insolvent when after litigating his claim and possibly conducting an appeal or appeals he ultimately came to execute his judgment.