Billionaire legal stoush: Heloise Pratt accuses estranged husband Alex Waislitz of ‘criminality’ and ‘acting dishonestly’

Heloise Pratt has accused her estranged husband of acting ‘dishonestly’ by paying himself and his charitable foundation $1m-plus without approval.

Heloise Pratt and Fiona Geminder at the Melbourne Cup. Picture: Jason Edwards

Billionaire Heloise Pratt has accused ex-husband Alex Waislitz of “criminality” and acting “dishonestly” by paying himself and his charitable foundation $1.147m without her knowledge and approval, explosive court documents allege.

Ms Pratt has accused Mr Waislitz of withholding board documents and financial information from her in relation to the $1.3bn Thorney Investments, which Mr Waislitz runs and which is jointly owned by him and Ms Pratt, and other related companies.

The allegations date back to 2017 and relates to an entity called Jamahjo that has ownership of the privately held Thorney Investment Group Australia.

As revealed by The Australian this week, Ms Pratt is suing Mr Waislitz in the Supreme Court of Victoria.

The legal battle pits members of one of the richest families in Australia against each other, with Ms Pratt’s billionaire siblings, Visy and Pratt Holdings executive chairman Anthony Pratt and Fiona Geminder, against Mr Waislitz – also a billionaire on The List – Australia’s Richest 250.

Ms Pratt and her siblings, Mr Pratt and sister Mrs Geminder – who administer the Pratt family trust – are believed to have already removed Mr Waislitz and his brother Avee from the boards of several Thorney entities over which they exercise control.

Alex Waislitz and Rebekah Behbahani at Victoria Derby Day. Picture: Mark Stewart

Ms Pratt is now also seeking to strip Mr Waislitz of control of their Halex family trust, saying he “acted dishonestly for his own benefit and engaged in criminality” when making the $1.147m payment in 2017 from Jamahjo.

Both Mr Waislitz and Ms Pratt are still listed as directors of Thorney Investments and other related entities such as Jamahjo. Other directors of some of the companies include Avee Waislitz – an investment manager who joined Thorney in 1994.

As previously revealed by The Australian’s Margin Call column, Ms Pratt and Mr Waislitz had been attempting to negotiate through solicitors over the ownership and control of Thorney Investments, which was started by Mr Waislitz in the early 1990s but also jointly owned by Ms Pratt.

The pair married in 1994 and remained on financially amicable terms following their separation in 2015. Ms Pratt sought to finalise the terms of their separation over the past 24 months, but those talks have broken down over the past year.

Ms Pratt has alleged in the court documents that Mr Waislitz breached the Crimes and Corporations Act, amid a series of allegations including that he did not inform her about several appointments to the board of Thorney and other entities, falsified board records and passed resolutions at board meetings about the flow of dividends that she was unaware of.

“Alexander Waislitz has dishonestly obtained property for himself and [an entity called] WCC as trustee for [The Waislitz] Foundation in contravention of s.81 of the Crimes Act,” Ms Pratt claimed in court documents obtained by The Australian.

“Whilst Alexander Waislitz has (either alone or with Ashley West) exercised de facto control over the Halex Family Trust, Alexander Waislitz has … acted dishonestly for his own benefit and engaged in criminality.

“(Mr Waislitz) purported to appoint trust income either for his own benefit or for the benefit of WCC as trustee of the foundation, to the exclusion of the other beneficiaries of the Halex Family Trust, most particularly his children as specified beneficiaries and his now former wife.”

Mr West is the general legal counsel at Thorney and a board member of companies and entities including Thorney Investment Group Australia and Jamahjo.

Responding to a request for comment, Mr Waislitz said he was “very disappointed that it has come to this” and vowed to “vigorously” defend the matter.

Heloise Pratt and Alex Waislitz.

“It appears to be a highly provocative and unbecoming action in response to failed negotiations which had up until now been kept private,” Mr Waislitz said.

“From the outset my ex-wife chose to have no involvement at all in Thorney’s day to day operations. To come forward now with this claim and seek to involve other individuals including my brother Avee is offensive.

“Our son Jake has recently joined Thorney with the full support of his mother and I feel sad that he and his siblings now must witness this dispute being played out in public. Of course I will be vigorously defending this inflammatory and damaging claim and will have further to say in coming weeks.”

Much of the claim relates to board meetings held in 2017, including allegations that Ms Pratt and Mr Waislitz agreed for the proceeds of the Halex family trust – the $1.147m sum – be directed to Mr Waislitz.

Ms Pratt alleges she did not attend a June 2017 board meeting for Jamahjo and also a November 2017 meeting at Thorney’s offices in Melbourne for subsidiary Tiga.

She alleges that an apology from her for not attending listed in the board’s minutes is false – and nor was she aware of or participated in any resolutions put to the meeting, which was also attended by Mr Waislitz’s brother Avee as company secretary of Tiga, an entity owned by Thorney.

She alleges that minutes of the meeting were signed by Mr Waislitz as being “true and correct” when they were not accurate.

The claim adds that Mr Waislitz is liable for “wilful default” of overseeing the family trust and should pay compensation.

Ms Pratt is asking the court to appoint independent trustees of the family trust, the court documents reveal.

“The history of friction between Alexander Waislitz and Heloise Pratt is likely to impede the proper administration of the Halex Family Trust,” Ms Pratt’s writ alleges. “In the premises it is expedient for the court to appoint the honourable Paul Anastassiou KC (a former federal court judge and now King’s Counsel), or such other person as it otherwise thinks fit, as a new trustee of the Halex Family Trust in substitution for Jamahjo.”

The claim also seeks numerous documents from Mr Waislitz relating to the management of the trust, and says Anthony Pratt and Mrs Geminder are also beneficiaries of the trust via the overall Pratt Family Holdings Trust.