Disgraced businessman and child abuser John Wayne Millwood to give evidence in bankruptcy case

Disgraced Launceston arts patron and child sexual abuser John Millwood will finally be grilled on the witness stand after divesting his multimillion-dollar portfolio and declaring himself bankrupt.

Launceston businessman John Millwood.

Disgraced Launceston arts patron and child sexual abuser John Wayne Millwood will finally be grilled on the witness stand after divesting his multimillion-dollar portfolio and declaring himself bankrupt.

Millwood, 77, was convicted of child sexual abuse crimes in 2016 and jailed after he pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a boy in the 1980s.

In December 2021, he was ordered to pay what was believed to be an Australian record-breaking amount of $5.3 million to his victim, following a civil trial in which Millwood did not appear once.

But the victim, known only by a court pseudonym of ZAB, still hasn’t received a cent.

Millwood declared bankruptcy last year after divesting himself of his Launceston homes, his considerable colonial art collection, company shares and superannuation.

Portrait John Millwood with his own John Glover painting Twenty Miles from Rome

This week, the Federal Court of Australia in Hobart is hearing a stoush waged by bankruptcy trustee, Sheahan Lock Partners, against Millwood’s bankrupt estate.

The firm is attempting to regain proceeds from the estate on behalf of Millwood’s biggest creditor, ZAB.

Art collector John Millwood sitting in front of John Glover portrait circa 1835 in Hobart 29/08/02. Pic Renee Nowytarger.

Millwood, who has been absent from court proceedings for years, will be called to give evidence on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Millwood’s former accountant, Findex partner Ken Davey, gave evidence before Registrar Timothy Luxton about the convicted paedophile’s “divestment strategy”.

He denied there was a plan in place to strip Millwood of his assets in order to put them “beyond the reach of his victim”.

Sheahan Lock lawyer Stuart Lewin asked why Millwood’s daughter was “gifted” valuable artwork, and why properties were transferred into the names of family members and friends, while Millwood himself walked away “without a dollar”.

Mr Davey denied there had been a “sham” agreement in place when he divested the assets in December 2016, at the time Millwood’s sentencing for child sexual abuse was “imminent”.

He also denied the divestment strategy was planned when it was clear changes to the Tasmanian statute of limitations laws were “on the cards” – which meant historical victims of child sexual abuse would be able to lodge damages claims from decades prior.

Mr Lewin said the strategy resulted in Millwood going from “millions and millions in dollars” of assets to nothing.

But Mr Davey said although being divested of every asset was the outcome, it was not Millwood’s direct instruction.

“Those instructions were never given. There were a series of transitions that ended up with that result,” he said.

Mr Davey said Millwood claimed he was in poor health and wanted his affairs “tidied up” as he expected to die behind bars.

The Mercury does not suggest any wrongdoing by Millwood’s family members or associates.

Millwood denies wrongdoing in the divestment of his assets.

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Originally published as Disgraced businessman and child abuser John Wayne Millwood to give evidence in bankruptcy case