Koutoufides says he’s not aggressor in multimillion-dollar mansion fight

Footy legend Anthony Koutoufides has spoken out about a bitter dispute with his builder amid claims he failed to pay the final instalment for his family’s multimillion-dollar Ivanhoe home.

Anthony and Susie Koutoufides say they’re being framed as the aggressors when they’ve done nothing wrong.

Footy legend Anthony Koutoufides and his wife Susie have hit back at claims they dodged payments on the build of their luxury home.

The couple is embroiled in a dispute with the builders of their multimillion-dollar Ivanhoe house after being accused of failing to pay the final instalment on the property in October.

They say they have followed the law but the builders, Acustruct, have acted inappropriately and waged a social media campaign against them after they refused their request for an independent inspection.

“They wouldn’t allow me to get an independent person to come in and inspect the place before final payment, as was my right under the contract,’’ Carlton great Koutoufides told the Herald Sun.

“Because of that it has escalated and I had to engage lawyers. There were a few issues that needed to be attended to and weren’t, and I’m obligated to get an independent person to come in before we move in.”

The Koutoufides say they are being framed as the aggressors and their reputation is being damaged with other contractors being brought into the saga.

Acustruct claimed the final payment was around $130,000 and it had blown out upwards of $180,000.

Susie says Acustruct has been unprofessional and trolling the couple despite being asked to liaise through the legal team. In one instance a picture was posted to Facebook of a framed no. 43 Carlton jersey with the comment: “For Sale #bidding commences at $130k ono”.

The Koutoufides multi-million dollar Ivanhoe mansion. Picture: Acustructbuilders/Instagram

There was also a comment posted from the Acustruct Instagram account on one of Anthony’s posts: “Just a kind reminder your wife has a large debt still due. She’s not returning our messages. Please have her call us directly should she need to. Happy to talk and settle this.”

Koutoufides, a club cult figure who played 278 games and was part of the 1995 premiership winning team, engaged lawyers Olivia Terziovski and Imran Fatah of Boutique Lawyers.

Mr Fatah said the claims from the builder, including that Koutoufides changed the locks, were false and their behaviour had made it difficult to mediate.

He said it was his client’s position that construction of the house was over six months late and that independent expert inspectors had since found numerous defects.

“This is the most extreme behaviour I’ve seen from a builder in this scenario,’’ he said.

“We are in the process of compiling materials to make a complaint to the regulator, contacting Victoria Police about some threatening conduct from tradies and are waiting on the reports of the independent experts so they can consider their options in relation to litigation.

“We are also considering defamation action against Acustruct.”

Acustruct was contacted for comment.