By Mark Russell
When billionaire Carlton Football Club board member Raphael 'Ruffy' Geminder sat down for a coffee with Warren Thompson, he was worried that his family were about to be kicked out of their Toorak rental home.
Mr Geminder and his family were renting the mansion for $8000 a week.
Toorak mansion Towart Lodge is at the centre of a major lawsuit.
He told the Victorian Supreme Court he met bankrupt businessman Warren Thompson, who owned the mansion but was facing having it repossessed by the bank, at a Toorak cafe in June 2013.
Mr Geminder, who was prepared to buy the mansion if he was unable to continue to rent it, agreed to increase his offer for it from $8.2 million to $8.5 million.
Raphael Geminder.Credit: Paul Rovere
"I was aggravated at the meeting because Mr Thompson had started at one position where he was going to put cash in and then I found myself in a completely different position," Mr Geminder told the court.
"Mr Thompson is telling me about a whole bunch of things where the bank is charging him default interest and the amount that we have to put in is this amount. I was aggravated because again, I had not been told the truth. That's why I was aggravated."
Mr Geminder was giving evidence during a civil trial where he and the National Australia Bank are being sued by Mr Thompson's wife Amanda over the sale of Towart Lodge.
The Geminder's lease on Towart Lodge - a five-bedroom mansion with mahogany walls, marble bathrooms, cinema, pool and a wine cellar capable of holding more than 1000 bottles - began in January 2013.
Mr Geminder, his wife, Fiona - the youngest daughter of the late cardboard king Richard Pratt - and the couple's four children had needed a place to rent while they renovated their historic mansion, Thanes, in Kooyong. The renovations at Thanes reportedly included at least three swimming pools, a separate wing for their four children, a 12-car garage and car wash.
The Geminders continue to live in Towart Lodge while the Thanes renovations are ongoing and their lease expires in January 2017.
Mrs Thompson claimed the NAB reneged on an agreement to allow her to sell Towart Lodge to Mr Geminder, with the $8.5 million to be paid to the bank to clear the Thompsons' debts.
The Thompsons had owed the NAB close to $10 million by July 2013 after defaulting on their loan almost a year after Mr Thompson, a property developer, had been declared bankrupt.
The deal with Mr Geminder would have allegedly given Mrs Thompson an "option" to repurchase the property for the same price at the end of the two-year lease term.
But Mrs Thompson said Mr Geminder pulled out of the $8.5 million deal for no reason, causing her to suffer loss and damage.
Mr Geminder told the court he was never friends with the Thompsons and was wary of them.
Questioned by barrister Anthony Rodbard-Bean, for Mrs Thompson, Mr Geminder agreed Mr Thompson sent him a text on June 20, 2013, when the bankrupt businessman was on holidays in Fiji which said, "Ruffy, I have just been told that the NAB do not want to proceed with our deal and want to auction (Towart Lodge) with vacant possession. Have you heard anything?".
Mr Geminder replied: "Warren, it's with Nick (Nick Perkins, Mr Geminder's lawyer) I have not been close to the detail. I will get him to co-ordinate with your lawyer. Enjoy Fiji. Regards, Ruffy."
The NAB by this stage had decided to reject the $8.5 million offer for Towart Lodge and planned to sell it to a Dubai-based businessman. Mr Geminder later arranged to lease Towart Lodge from the new owner.
Mr Thompson sent another text to Mr Geminder three minutes later saying, "Hopefully the bank will honour their agreement. Amanda is devastated but I have assured her that we are all working to the one end."
Mr Geminder told the court he found the SMS bewildering, "in the sense that Mr Thompson had lost his home to the bank".
The civil trial, before Justice Tim Ginnane, continues.