Tony G buys into Larry Kestelman Capitol Grand apartment block

Lithuanian Antanas Guoga, more commonly known as Tony G, pictured at the poker table in 2010. Picture: AFP

Amid all the ructions at the NBL, Larry Kestelman’s main business – selling luxury apartments – just keeps powering on.

The latest sale at Kestelman’s swanky Capitol Grand project in Melbourne’s South Yarra precinct caused a brief stir in Margin Call headquarters, given the apartment is listed as Kestelman’s place of business on his filings with the corporate regulator.

Could the NBL owner be selling out of the high-priced penthouse apartment at the block?

The price listed on the unit, of about $6.9m-$7.3m, suggested not given Kestelman once assured one of Margin Call’s colleagues the penthouse suite would be worth closer to $50m should he ever decide to move it on.

NBL owner Larry Kestelman. Picture: Getty Images

Even more intriguing is the buyer – Antanas Guoga, better known as Tony G, odds on as having the most fascinating resume of all the Capitol Grand’s residents.

The Lithuanian Australian is a former Rubik’s cube champion of his home country, a founding inductee of the Australian Poker Hall of Fame, and these days has turned into a cryptocurrency entrepreneur.

He also managed to spend a term as an elected member of the European parliament. Which probably means we should refer to him as the Hon. Tony G – but that really doesn’t seem to fit his public persona.

Oddly enough, Tony G – who boasted of earning $US100m last year from his blockchain companies in a YouTube interview posted a few months ago – has also long been one of the biggest supporters of Lithuanian basketball.

Is there some connection there that could have helped prize Kestelman from his penthouse suite?

Sadly not. The NBL owner ­assured Margin Call this week he has no intention of parting with the property, and the apartment in question is merely one of several that he stayed in at Capital Grand while his own – more spacious – suite was being fitted out.

And as for Tony G? Kestelman doesn’t really know him, and certainly wasn’t aware of his interest in basketball. Which will at least give the pair something to talk about should they bump into each other in the car park.