One of the Vam shareholders, a Mrs Walser, had on 3 April 1969 sold (at a profit) the Vamgas shares she held in trust. This was, strictly speaking, before she exercised her option. Mullens was the selling broker and was obviously unconcerned by formalities of exercise dates, but it did cause Mr Bridges (a partner in Mullens) considerable embarrassment in the court (below) because it gave the impression Mrs Walser regarded the shares as hers to trade, and on that basis maybe the trust documents were a sham and she was really the owner. The latter was what the Australian Taxation Office contended.