Pratt family now battling Real Housewives star amid property dispute embroiling investor Waislitz and his girlfriend’s sister
The billionaire Pratt family is seeking to remove a caveat reality TV identity Venus Behbahani has over a property in Melbourne’s swanky Toorak, already at the centre of a legal dispute.
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The billionaire Pratt family is seeking to remove a caveat reality TV identity Venus Behbahani has over a property in Melbourne’s swanky Toorak, which is at the centre of a legal dispute between her and her sister and renowned investor Alex Waislitz.
Venus Behbahani, who starred in The Real Housewives of Melbourne, has been fighting Mr Waislitz and Rebecca Behbahani over control of a Toorak townhouse she claims was once promised to her by the couple but which it now has emerged is actually controlled by the Pratt family empire.
But, the fresh move by Pratt family lawyers on Friday means Venus Behbahani will now also battle the billionaire family for control of the townhouse, which is owned by an entity called Thorney Equities Pty Ltd.
Venus Behbahani is suing Mr Waislitz over the townhouse, which was allegedly promised to Venus back in 2019. She has alleged that, in exchange for the property, Rebecca Behbahani was given control of Behbahani Productions, a business created by the two sisters.
Land title searches confirm Venus Behbahani took out a caveat over the property in question in October 2022 – before she took legal action against her sister and Mr Waislitz, who now have a child together. Mr Waislitz had also sought to remove Venus Behbahani’s claim to the property as part of his and Rebecca Behbahani’s legal defence.
Mr Waislitz is separately being sued by ex-wife Heloise Pratt as part of a dispute over control of their Thorney Investment Group, a stock-investing empire worth upwards of $1.3bn. He built up Thorney with a sum of money initially provided by Ms Pratt’s father, the late cardboard magnate Richard Pratt.
The latest bombshell in the drama involving the Behbahani sisters emerged on Friday when it was revealed the Pratt family and Mr Waislitz realised they needed separate lawyers due to a possible conflict of interest in the case, since Mr Waislitz and Heloise Pratt had separated seven years ago.
The case was first lodged in 2023, and on the eve of mediation and a possible trial, Thorney Equities — now controlled by the Pratts — and Mr Waislitz sought a last minute request to lodge their own defences, which now need to be updated.
Venus Behbahani’s counsel told the court on Friday it was not clear how Mr Waislitz could be managing Thorney Equities for seven years (a time which included taking control of the Toorak townhouse and a property next door) after his split from his former wife without her knowledge.
Thorney Equities, a private company connected to the wider Thorney Investments empire headed by Mr Waislitz and ultimately owned by a Pratt family entity, had once counted Mr Waislitz and Heloise Pratt as directors.
But Mr Waislitz, his brother Avee and Ms Pratt were removed as directors last year.
Paperwork lodged with the corporate regulator showed Robert Kaye and Vin O’Halloran, both group executives at paper and packaging giant Visy (owned by the Pratts), have stepped up as sole office holders of Thorney Equities and several other associated companies.
Venus Behbahani’s counsel said he was concerned the last minute intervention of the Pratts could mess with the court’s planned timetable.
“We are most put out,” he said.
“There are applications by the first (Thorney) and second defendants to amend their defences.
“Since miraculously they discovered there was a conflict of interest, they took belated steps to (set out) their position.
“The plaintiff (Venus Behbahani) does not consent to those. The position is that they are late, and inadequately explained.”
Jonathan Kenny for Thorney Equities said his client “seeks, by counterclaim, to have a caveat registered by the plaintiff over the property removed.”
A judge has ordered the parties attend mediation in the coming weeks, and urged them to “isolate” the issues in dispute in a bid to resolve the drawn out matter.
If mediation fails, a trial is set to go ahead before the end of the year.
On Thursday, the court also heard Venus Behbahani had withdrawn a request to give evidence in the case from overseas. She is expected to appear in person at upcoming hearings.
Victorian Supreme Court judge Claire Harris also said a dispute about the contents of a mobile phone was a “side issue”, after the parties argued about its ownership.
Venus Behbahani insists it belongs to her daughter, and her sister Rebecca insists it belongs to her.
That phone is the subject of a separate criminal case, and during a previous hearing Victoria’s Commissioner of Police intervened to declare it was needed for examination.
The Pratt siblings — Anthony, Heloise and Fiona Geminder — are also embroiled in other court disputes, including one lodged by their half-sibling, Paula Hitchcock.
Ms Hitchcock has claimed in a separate and long running court case she has been unfairly cut out of the family’s trust and is entitled to an equal share of its distributions.
Ms Hitchcock argues she is legally entitled to the same amount of money as her siblings because her biological father is the late Richard Pratt, who had an affair with Shari Hitchcock who gave birth to Paula.
An upcoming hearing due to take place in the NSW Supreme Court about Ms Hitchcock’s pleadings in that case has been cancelled because the parties have now agreed on a fresh statement of claim.
As well, Heloise Pratt separately launched court action against Mr Waislitz in Victoria’s Supreme Court amid a dispute about the ownership of Thorney.
As part of that case, Ms Pratt alleged Mr Waislitz authorised spending $1.23m from a company they jointly own without her approval on the two units in Toorak which are also at the centre of Venus Behbahani’s court case.
Ms Pratt’s matter is set to go to trial in September, and she has said in court documents Venus and Rebecca were being allowed to live “rent free” in the units.
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Originally published as Pratt family now battling Real Housewives star amid property dispute embroiling investor Waislitz and his girlfriend’s sister
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