Stepdaughter of Hedge Fund boss flew by jet to get ‘boobs done’ with investor money, court told

While investors’ assets shrank, the stepdaughter of a hedge fund founder was taking a jet to boost the size of her ‘assets’, paid for with their money, a court has been told.

Goldsky investors paid for Ken Grace's stepdaughter Zoe Marzin to fly to Sydney and back on a private jet to have breast surgery. Picture: Instagram

THE stepdaughter of a car dealer turned “hedge fund genius” travelled to Sydney on a private jet with her family to get breast implants using investors money, a court has heard.

On the second day of a liquidators examination the Federal Court in Brisbane yesterday, Zoe Marzin, a housekeeper from Coolangatta, said that she flew down to Sydney in 2018 on a private jet, and returned on another a week later.

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Zoe Marzin flew with her family to Sydney to have breast surgery. Picture: Instagram

Ms Marzin is the stepdaughter of Ken Grace, a self-styled “financial whiz” accused of masterminding a Ponzi scheme which allegedly lost high-profile former professional sportspeople investors $25 million.

Mr Grace has denied he had stolen from investors or used their funds as his own.

Ms Marzin, who worked as a receptionist and gofer for her stepfather at his “hedge fund”, told the hearing she “went to Sydney specifically to get my boobs done”.

Her mother Jane, told the hearing on Tuesday that Zoe had plastic surgery with Dr Michael Zacharia in Double Bay after earlier breast surgery on the Gold Coast failed.

A report filed in earlier court proceedings by the receiver of Mr Grace’s failed Goldsky group of companies, stated that $115,502 of investors money was spent on cosmetic surgery by the Grace family.

Zoe Marzin was gifted $100,000 from her mother to set up a fashion design business. Picture: Instagram

Ms Marzin also told the court yesterday that her mother Jane gave her a gift of $100,000 cash to help her set up her fashion design business called Zimmer and Maize.

She had clothes designed and made in Bali but never launched the business fully because the fund collapsed in late 2018.

Those who invested in the fund are former swim coach Scott Volkers who put in $220,000, former AFL player and assistant coach Simon Black ($80,000), current Essendon AFL player Devon Smith ($100,000), former AFL player Clark Keating ($100,000), former Olympic swimmer Sam Riley ($50,000) and Riley’s husband Tim Fydler ($100,000), as well as Olympic cyclist Robbie McEwen ($50,000) and Melbourne Storm’s director of performance Lachlan Penfold ($127,559).

Surfer Joel Parkinson invested in the fund but got out before the fund went bust, the court heard.

Ken Grace and wife Jane Grace. Picture: AAP Image/Richard Gosling

In earlier evidence Mr Grace agreed he splashed $17,000 of investors money hiring a private jet to fly himself and his family from the Gold Coast to Sydney in September 2018.

This was the same month that the US Securities and Exchange Commission slapped him with a lawsuit alleging he had misled them and prospective US investors.

There was no finding or admission of guilt as part of the resolution of the SEC’s action.

Mr Grace conceded hiring the jet was “an indiscretion I shouldn’t have done”.

Mr Grace denied suggestions by barrister Liam Copley, for liquidator Chris Baskerville of Jirsch Sutherland that he was “just spending the money” because he “knew he was going to be caught”.

Mr Grace, who blamed his poor memory on “chronic alcoholism”, is set to return to give evidence on Friday.

Today’s witnesses are set to include Mr Grace’s son Austin, who worked as a graphic designer for the Goldsky fund, as well as three investors who emerged relatively unscathed, having funds returned to them before it was placed into receivership then liquidation.