Sydney socialite Linda Rogan and her kids ‘locked out’ of Vaucluse mansion after business dispute
Sydney socialite Linda Rogan says text messages show tech billionaire Richard White approved her luxury furnishings at a secret mansion he bought for her...before his girlfriend found out.
It is a $13.1m mansion secretly bought for a Sydney socialite and her children that is turning into a nightmare for one of Australia’s richest men.
And, in a twist, a wellness business in inner-city Sydney featuring hyperbaric oxygen, infra-red sauna, body shaping and float room treatments could also be at the heart of an extraordinary case of a relationship gone wrong.
There have been bankruptcy papers served at a beauty clinic, almost $100,000 transferred from the billionaire’s bank account allegedly without his knowledge, $10,000 mattresses and $5000 worth of outdoor love seats, a reality TV show and a tryst that ended suddenly leaving a family allegedly locked out of its new home.
Court documents obtained by The Weekend Australian reveal intimate details about the relationship between billionaire WiseTech Global founder Richard White and ex-lover Linda Rogan, the Sydney harbourside house he is alleged to have bought for her, messages between the pair and how the billionaire allegedly cut off all communication with Ms Rogan after his girlfriend found out about their affair.
A business called Bionik Wellness could also be part of the dispute between Mr White and Ms Rogan.
According to a transcript lodged with court documents released to The Weekend Australian, during a hearing at Sydney’s Downing Centre local court last August, Ms Rogan said a dispute about $91,474 worth of furniture at the Vaucluse property came down to a business proposal.
“The consideration was him buying into my business,” she said. “That was the whole basis of this arrangement.”
Throughout court documents, Ms Rogan’s email is linked to an address with a “bionikwellness” domain.
Company records show Ms Rogan was a director of Bionik Wellness for about a year, between November 2021 and November 2022.
Further information spilt out at a hearing on Wednesday, when barrister Bridie Nolan for Ms Rogan told the court Mr White had been “grooming my client by inducing her into business”.
Ms Nolan 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”.
Bionik, according to its website, is a “science-based wellness business” that aims to give customers “the tools and technology to optimise how you feel and perform in your daily life”.
Members pay up to $150 per week for access to a hyperbaric chamber, infra-red sauna, float therapy or ice baths, as well as treatments like “Emscuplt”, described as a “leading non-invasive body contouring treatment”, and electromagnetic therapy to build muscle and burn fat.
Mr White has taken bankruptcy action against Ms Rogan, a beauty entrepreneur who also owns a Laser Clinics franchise in Sydney’s Double Bay, in a move that has generated headlines this week due to coverage of proceedings in the Federal Court.
The Sydney businesswoman wants Mr White’s bid to bankrupt her thrown out of court and has argued the bankruptcy notice filed against her “was actuated on malice”.
Separately, The Weekend Australian this week revealed Mr White had allegedly secretly bought a $13.1m Vaucluse mansion for Ms Rogan and her children to live in, for which she purchased about $91,000 worth of luxury furniture. Ms Rogan said in court documents she was then locked out of the house after her sexual relationship with Mr White was “discovered by Ms Nasser” – Mr White’s girlfriend Zena Nasser.
That furniture sum later formed part of another court battle in which Ms Rogan successfully applied for a garnishee notice on Mr White’s Westpac bank account, from which about $92,000 was withdrawn from last year. Mr White more recently launched the bankruptcy action.
In court documents seen by The Weekend Australian, Mr White said he believed Ms Rogan’s legal actions were “without any merit, since I never entered into any contract, as alleged or otherwise” with her.
But back in September 2022 there were seemingly happier times between the pair.
“I was in a relationship with the defendant and had visited and spent multiple evenings with Richard White (at his) primary residence, where he resides with his mother and his childhood friend Reg,” Ms Rogan said in a Local Court appearance in Sydney last year.
In another court document, Ms Rogan described Mr White filling out the paperwork to secretly buy her a house. “Mr Richard White wanted to hide his identity,” she said. Then, five days later, she watched online with her son and Mr White as the billionaire’s lawyer, Justin Betar, successfully bid $13.1m for the Vaucluse mansion.
“We purchased the property. I got access, the keys to the property, picked them up from Mr Betar. He said “congratulations, enjoy the house,” Ms Rogan alleges.
The Dalley Ave house features six bedrooms, 4.5 bathrooms, sunlit living areas, an in-ground glass-fenced heated pool and water views all the way to the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
“This exceptional property offers a lifestyle of unmatched grandeur and effortless comfort,” a real estate advertisement for it says.
Soon after the purchase, Ms Rogan set about furnishing the mansion, and – she claims – discussed details with Mr White about what she could buy for the house while also engaging an interior designer.
“Hun … meeting interior lady. What is our budget”,” Ms Rogan claims she messaged her lover in October 2022. Richard White, Ms Rogan says, replied: “Just get her to do a budget for a nice but not overly costly.”
Another text message to Mr White from Ms Rogan said: “I will get quote today for all furniture if you can review and pay deposit so we can start ordering everything. I want a new bed.”
She also asked: “Can I get a quote for the bench top”. Mr White, she says, replied: “Yup that’s OK to be part of the work.”
Ms Rogan’s court documents claim interior design firm Nellie Tilley was hired and Ms Rogan said she paid the firm directly. She also claims business owner Janelle Tilley was required to enter a nondisclosure agreement with Mr White.
Ms Rogan’s court documents itemise some of her furniture purchases from Melbourne luxury furniture business James Said. The list includes two outdoor love seats costing $4800, a set of four stainless steel coffee tables for $5880 and two swivel chairs at $7280. Also listed is the Harvey Norman outlet in Sydney’s Moore Park, from where a $10,200 luxury mattress and king-sized bed base was bought.
“There was no reason for me to doubt for one second, so I didn’t hesitate in, you know, putting the furniture on my credit card or – because everything he did, he followed through,” Ms Rogan said.
“But then his girlfriend found out about it and shut it all down.”
Ms Rogan says Mr White instructed his lawyer to lock her out of the house in November 2022, leaving her out of pocket “for $91,474.20 for the furniture that I order(ed) based on his promises”.
Ms Rogan says she later reached a settlement with interior designer Nellie Tilley for funds paid from her bank account to her for purchase of the furniture, but continued to pursue Mr White through the courts for the money she said he owed her.
The following February, only four months after buying it for $13.1m, Mr White quietly sold the Vaucluse mansion for $11.5m.
“They sold the house like a fire sale … This is not normal behaviour,” Ms Rogan told the Sydney Local Court last year.
“Who buys a house for $13.1m and sells it three months later for $11.5m just to get rid of the house so I couldn’t have it? They had a security guard at the house.”
A month later, in March 2023, statement-of-claim documents from Ms Rogan were served at Mr White’s Bexley house when he was away on a business trip in the US. The papers were, court documents claim, accepted by Mr White’s childhood friend, Reg.
That same month, The Daily Telegraph newspaper reported Ms Rogan had been “turning heads in Double Bay with her statuesque Barbie doll looks and circle of all-age admirers for years”,
The newspaper said the blonde “beauty addict” – as she’d described herself on social media, was “the latest Sydney glamazon to catch the eye of producers of Foxtel’s Real Housewives Of Sydney”.
Ms Rogan did not go on to appear on the reality television show, but she continued to pursue Mr White for the money.
She successfully applied to garnish about $92,000 from the billionaire’s Westpac bank account in April 2023, but Mr White later claimed he had missed court orders and paperwork because he was suffering from Covid-19.
“I am 68 years old and have been genuinely concerned about the potential risk to me and others, by these infections,” Mr White said.
Mr White’s lawyer later claimed, according to court documents: “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.”
Ms Rogan later told the court she wanted to stop her legal action because “I can’t fight someone worth $11bn. All I’m asking is … I keep the garnishee money and walk away. I don’t want to go through this anymore. I have to take care of my children.
“I am the primary carer of my son who is suffering from a severe brain injury, and I need to work full time in my business to provide for my children.”
The court action last year has been followed more recently by Mr White’s move to bankrupt Ms Rogan, which was made public in court this year.
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”.
Ms Rogan wants Mr White’s bid to bankrupt her thrown out of court and she foreshadowed plans to file a cross-claim against White alleging misleading conduct, and suggested she could argue the bankruptcy notice may be “a device for sabotage”.
In a further twist, the Vaucluse mansion was this week put up for sale by its current owners.
“This exceptional property offers a lifestyle of unmatched grandeur and effortless comfort,” the Ray White advertisement says.
It will be auctioned on October 30.
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