Billionaire and beauty influencer court fight over $90,000 worth of luxury furniture for secret mansion
Bombshell claims have erupted between one of Australia’s richest men, Richard White, and his ex-lover Linda Rogan over who should pay for luxury goods including a $10,000 mattress at a Vaucluse mansion they shared | LOOK INSIDE THE SECRET MANSION
Billionaire Richard White’s bankruptcy action against Sydney beauty entrepreneur Linda Rogan appears to be linked to a dispute about $90,000 worth of luxury furniture bought for a secret $13.1m Sydney mansion in fashionable Vaucluse.
Ms Rogan has alleged Mr White, the founder of technology giant WiseTech Global, secretly bought the mansion for her and her children to live in at a September 2022 auction, after which the billionaire instructed her to buy furniture for the house.
The pair, Ms Rogan alleged, had been in a sexual relationship that ended after “being discovered by Ms Nasser” – Mr White’s girlfriend Zena Nasser, a former criminal defence lawyer.
But in allegations contained in court documents obtained by the Australian this week, Ms Rogan said Mr White – who ranked 13th on The List – Australia’s Richest 250 this year with an estimated $9.72bn fortune – locked the Laser Clinics franchise owner out of the Vaucluse mansion two months later.
It was then quickly sold at a loss four months after the initial purchase, for $11.5m.
In February 2023 there “was a hasty sale” of the Vaucluse property at “a significant loss”, Ms Rogan said according to court documents.
But by then, Ms Rogan alleges, she had herself paid more than $91,000 for furniture, including a $10,200 mattress, that Mr White later did not reimburse her for.
Ms Rogan alleges she was present when documents were signed by Mr White to form a company that would buy the Vaucluse mansion.
“Mr Richard White wanted to hide his identity” regarding the property purchase, Ms Rogan alleges, according to the court documents.
“Immediately after auction Richard White instructed me to order furniture for the property. I attended furniture stores and placed orders,” she added.
“I spent 6 weeks on furniture selection and ordering. [In November 2022] Richard White instructed his lawyer … to lock me out of the house.
“Richard White has not responded to a single letter or any communication to resolve this matter and has left me out of pocket for $91,474.20 for the furniture that I order[ed] based on his promises.”
The matter was then subject to a series of local court hearings last year, after Ms Rogan had served legal documents served on Mr White at his Bexley mansion and later successfully applied to garnish about $92,000 from the billionaire’s Westpac bank account.
Mr White had denied Ms Rogan’s allegations about their relationship, the house and furniture.
“I intend to defend the claim as I never entered into an agreement with the plaintiff (Ms Rogan) about the furniture … and never directed her to purchase the furniture or engage the design services,” Mr White said according to court documents.
He also last year said he has not seen court documents and garnishee demands due to travelling to the US for business and then later suffering Covid.
The garnishee order was made in April last year, and in July Mr White’s lawyer Justin Betar opposed the application.
“There was no agreement as alleged by the plaintiff, either oral or written, or even a mutual understanding, that the plaintiff would own the furniture,” Mr Betar said according to court documents.
“Since the defendant became aware of the fact of the default judgement and the garnishee order, only by dint of the garnisheed sum $92,123.20 plus bank processing fees being withdrawn from his account, the defendant has been attempting to negotiate in good faith with the plaintiff to reach a compromise in respect of this proceeding and in other equally baseless proceedings commenced by the plaintiff against him,” he said.
Court documents indicate two other legal matters have been struck out in the NSW local court, and one was discontinued in the district court last year.
The court action last year has been followed more recently by Mr White’s move to bankrupt Ms Rogan, which has made headlines this week.
Mr White’s move was started on August 22 this year when a bankruptcy notice was served on Ms Rogan at her place of business. Subsequent letters exchanged between the two parties refer to the matter being “to return garnisheed money”.
The Sydney businesswoman wants Mr White’s bid to bankrupt her thrown out of court and launched her latest legal play claiming the amount in the notice is “overstated”.
During hearings this week the Federal Court heard Ms Rogan alleged Mr White’s bankruptcy notice filed against her “was actuated on malice”.
In her bid to have the notice ejected, Ms Rogan’s barrister Bridie Nolan argued her client was subject to “grooming” to induce her into business.
She said bankruptcy notices should “not be used to disrupt a person’s daily life”, and that Ms Rogan was caught up in a “system of misconduct”.
She foreshadowed plans to file a cross-claim against Mr White alleging misleading conduct, and suggested she could argue the bankruptcy notice may be “a device for sabotage”.
The dispute was made public on Tuesday, as Mr White’s lawyer sought to suppress parts of the case.
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