Brigette Panetta reveals human cost of epic battle with corporate regulator
For five years her life has been a running battle, a demoralising and often traumatic saga punctuated by apparent endless court hearings, the loss of the family home, a mental health breakdown and a vexing belief the situation could have been avoided.
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The fiancee of the former Dunk Island owner has revealed the human cost of an epic court battle and investigation that started two days before she gave birth to her daughter.
For five years Brigette Panetta’s life has been a demoralising and often traumatic saga punctuated by court hearings, the loss of the family home, a breakdown and a vexing belief the situation could have been avoided.
It was September 2019 when Mayfair 101 snapped up Dunk Island and announced a $1.6bn plan to transform the destination and Mission Beach into an international tourist mecca.
Subsequent civil court action by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission the following year restricted fundraising by Mayfair 101 financial products and triggered a string of litigation, and a series of financial disasters that remains ongoing.
The venture had barely got off the ground when ASIC torpedoed investment products used to fund Cassowary Coast property acquisition by appointing provisional liquidators to Mayfair 101 subsidiaries.
Managing director James Mawhinney bore the regulator’s civil action but his fiancee Ms Panetta has been forced into the rollercoaster ordeal that’s expected to pick up steam in February when the remitted trial before the Federal Court will hear closing submissions.
In April 2024 Mr Mawhinney was arrested and charged following an ASIC criminal investigation. He’s facing four counts of engaging in dishonest conduct in the course of carrying on a financial services business.
The matter remains unresolved and has been listed for a special mention on August 12 and a five-day committal hearing on November 10 at the Melbourne Magistrates Court.
Not directly a party to legal action, Ms Panetta has faithfully stood by her fiancee’s side through more than 20 court actions bought by ASIC.
When the Federal Court froze the company’s operations in April 2020, more than 70 staff employed by Mayfair lost their jobs, more than 100 property vendors in Mission Beach had their settlements up-ended, and 570 Australian investors who had provided $211m were left out-of-pocket.
Though the impact to investors, many of which lost their life savings, has been well documented, the human cost of actions by the corporate regulator on Mr Mawhinney’s family has never before been revealed.
“It’s been excruciating really, from the first moment, two days before I gave birth to my daughter,” Ms Panetta said.
“We thought once they see under the hood they will see that they have the wrong people but it kept getting worse and worse and we kept thinking it would ease up, but it got worse.
“It wiped the safety and the foundation that we have built to begin life with a child.
“We have been in survival mode and there have been so many balls in the air.”
In 2022 to finance Mr Mawhinney’s fight against ASIC the couple took out a second mortgage on their exclusive Park Orchards family home in Melbourne but while living in Mission Beach the pair fell behind on mortgage repayments and ultimately lost the house that was the centre of its own messy court battle.
“It just kept crumbling and that was really hard,” she said.
Eventually the burden of stress and anxiety dealt with in isolation on top of being a new mum became too much.
And when the corporate tax specialist turned podcaster and life coach heard her daughter was referenced in court documents she suffered a panic attack which landed her in hospital.
“From a health perspective my body just gave up and at one point I had to pull back and set boundaries,” Ms Panetta said.
Now Ms Panetta has reinvented herself as a “forgiveness healer” and is hosting transformational retreats in Bali aimed at personal and spiritual development.
“I have held two women’s retreats and I’m really trying to pass on my knowledge and the things that helped me get through the darkest times,” she said.
“I feel there is a bigger reason that this is happening and I want to help others and offer support to the families suffering social injustices.
“It’s extremely isolating and I felt like I had no one to support me.”
Now with Dunk Island under new ownership and the opening of an beachside bar on the island imminent, along with the renovation of Elandra at Mission Beach, Ms Panetta reflects in disappointment at what could have been.
“People are taking his ideas and realising his vision, but they are doing it in isolation,” she said.
“If he is in a position to, I think (Mr Mawhinney) will revisit (the Cassowary Coast vision), there’s so much potential.
“He had good intentions and he has a good heart and a very capable businessman and a good father, he has been completely mischaracterized and I think people are starting to see this.”
In early 2025 the couple will launch a bot-free, fully verified social media network Ms Panetta says creates a safe space for users to self-publish and host trusted content.
Mediacom, of which Ms Panetta is a brand ambassador, is expected to launch later this year.
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