Inside the Costa family financial feud that cost Cameron Ling his home

Frank Costa’s widow has backed her late husband’s “right-hand man” in a bitter dispute over a controversial $1.5 million payment.

Exclusive: Frank Costa’s widow has backed her late husband’s “right-hand man” in a bitter dispute over a controversial $1.5 million payment.

Just months after the former Geelong Football Club president died last year and left an estate worth up to $800 million, his family has ended up in a legal battle.

Shirley Costa, who was married to Frank for more than 60 years, has defended Mr Costa’s long-time business adviser Carl Schokman.

He is at the centre of a fight over the disastrous lease of a former Smorgy’s Restaurant on Geelong’s Cunningham Pier to one of Mr Costa’s daughters.

Former Cats premiership captain Cameron Ling also says the dispute has cost him his family home after he “naively” took the late businessman’s advice.

Mr Schokman and his son Michael were labelled as unreliable witnesses in a Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal hearing, but without commenting on matters before the VCAT, Mrs Costa backed him as a good man.

“He has behaved beautifully, he’s a wonderful man,” Mrs Costa said when asked about Mr Schokman.

“He’s absolutely loyal, true blue and that’s all I’ll say about him, thank you.”

The late Frank Costa with his wife Shirley at their waterfront apartment. Picture: Peter Ristevski

The Costa family is one of Australia’s wealthiest.

Mr Costa, the cleanskin son of Italian immigrants, built a fruit and vegetable empire after standing up to the Melbourne mafia to become a key supplier to Coles and Woolworths.

He had a “character first” values system that he introduced into his business and then spread that ethos to the Geelong Football Club, which he credited as part of their success during their flag years of 2007, 2009, and 2011.

But the lease of a restaurant on a pier on Geelong’s waterfront, which remains under the control of Mr Schokman, has caused distress in the highly-respected Costa family.

Gillian Holroyd, one of Mr Costa’s eight daughters, took on the lease and spent $4.5 million on a redevelopment.

Frank Costa married Shirley in 1960 and they had eight daughters. Picture: Supplied

Mrs Holroyd responded via VCAT to two legal notices imposed on her business, and demanded the return of a $1.5 million payment at the start of the lease.

She claimed that payment was “key money”, which is illegal in Victoria under the Retail Leases Act 2003.

The Tribunal heard Mr Schokman set up the deal that charged $500,000 a year rent on the former Smorgy’s Restaurant, which VCAT heard was twice the market rate.

Mr Ling was also caught up in the financial problems as a shareholder, along with Mrs Holroyd and her husband Darren.

The former Cats midfielder told the Tribunal he “naively” trusted Mr Schokman’s and Mr Costa’s business advice and was forced to sell his family home to pay debts that piled up on the lease.

Mrs Holroyd claimed that the rent charged on the restaurant was excessive.

Gillian Holroyd is demanding $1.5 million key money payment be returned. Picture: Stuart McEvoy for The Australian

Gillian and Darren Holroyd are prominent in Geelong’s hospitality industry. Picture: Jackie Paige Sanders

She had discussed with her father, when he was alive, to slash the rent in half based on two property valuers’ advice.

Mrs Holroyd said Mr Costa had agreed to drop the rent by $200,000 a year and had arranged a meeting on April 7, 2017, to discuss the matter but did not turn up.

Mr Schokman came in his place and “hijacked the meeting”, which was also attended by two of her sisters, Mrs Holroyd claimed.

The revenue from a car park on the Pier was given to Mrs Holroyd’s company, which was worth about $200,000 a year, but the rent remained the same.

The disputed lease started in 2009 and the company was already in dire straits before the Covid-19 pandemic hit, heavily restricting business.

Cameron Ling and Frank Costa were close because of their involvement in the Cats. They helped Eileen O'Donnell celebrate her 100 birthday in 2012.

The arguments led to VCAT hearing a disagreement about whether 10 VIP carparking passes were provided to Mr Costa’s company.

Mr Schokman claimed that Mrs Holroyd stopped handing over the free parking tickets when it changed car park managers.

Carl Schokman

Mr Ling, whom the tribunal declared as a reliable witness, said he had sought independent legal advice from solicitor Roy Morris who raised concerns about the deal.

“We naively proceeded on the basis of Carl and Franks’ advice rather than Roy’s,” he told VCAT.

Mr Ling “begged” to get out of the deal in 2015 after suffering a huge financial loss.

“When Carl effectively yelled at me and my accountant and demanded certain things, I’ll never forget that meeting, probably for the rest of my life. I haven’t had to beg too many times in my life, but it felt like I was in that meeting,” he said.

The Holroyds are one of Geelong’s most prominent and respected hospitality business owners.

The couple have been involved with the Gold Diggers Arms, legendary industry hotspot Lamby’s, Edge, Black Sheep Restaurant and City Quarter.

VCAT has yet to make final orders on the matter.

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