Health Services Union eyes Kathy Jackson will windfall to repay debt

Convicted fraudster Kathy Jackson could be forced to forfeit almost all of her windfall inheritance from David Rofe.

Former Health Services Union boss and convicted fraudster Kathy Jackson. Picture: AAP

Convicted fraudster Kathy Jackson could be forced to forfeit almost all of the $3m windfall inheritance she is set to receive from the estate of prominent Sydney barrister David Rofe QC as the Health Services Union ­initiates legal moves to claw back the debt she owes it from mis­appropriated funds.

Jackson was confirmed as one of the main beneficiaries of Rofe’s $30m estate on Monday when NSW Supreme Court judge Geoff Lindsay ruled that the late barrister’s final will, which left Jackson a one-tenth share and $100,000 cash, was valid.

The inheritance would hand Jackson $2.5m to $3m from Rofe’s estate, depending on what remains of the late barrister’s fortune following tax and legal costs.

Jackson owes the HSU a debt of $2.4m following a Federal Court decision in August 2015 when judge Richard Tracey said he “substantially supported” the union’s claim that she pay it $1.4m in compensation for her “misuse” of union funds for personal benefit, plus $1m in legal expenses and interest.

Jackson never paid the debt, instead filing for bankruptcy and claiming she had no assets.

Since her release from three years as a bankrupt in mid-2018, the HSU and Jackson’s bankruptcy trustee have not pursued her, accepting she lacked available funds to pay the money owed.

Kathy Jackson and David Rofe.

They also accepted it was not possible to stake a financial claim on Jackson’s former house at Wombarra, south of Sydney, after an ownership transfer to her former partner, Michael Lawler.

The HSU’s NSW secretary, Gerard Hayes, confirmed to The Australian on Tuesday that he now wanted to recover all of the union’s $2.4m debt from Jackson, whose misuse of funds as accepted by the Federal Court related to her past position as secretary of the HSU No 3 branch in Victoria.

Mr Hayes said the NSW Supreme Court’s decision in handing Jackson a significant share of Rofe’s wealth had reignited his union’s interest. He confirmed the legal firm acting for the union’s national office, Slater & Gordon, had been consulted for advice on how to claw back funds.

As Jackson’s creditor, Mr Hayes said, the HSU was entitled to claim money Jackson received from the Rofe estate because the elderly barrister died in July 2017 when Jackson was in the middle of bankruptcy.

The Bankruptcy Act also provided that funds received by Jackson after her bankruptcy period ended could be the subject of claims by her bankruptcy trustee and the HSU as her creditor.

The bankruptcy trustee, Paul Leroy, took an active interest in the Rofe estate court case as the 13th defendant in the matter.

Mr Leroy was also involved in unsuccessful mediation talks that preceded the court hearing to decide which of Rofe’s many wills was valid. Rofe had dozens of wills, or iterations of wills, but 10 of his wills and two codicils were subject to a ruling by Justice Lindsay on which was valid.

Rofe died in July 2017, aged 85, of dementia-related illness.

Jackson met him in mid-2012, two years after he was diagnosed with dementia, and quickly became close to him.

 

In Rofe’s final December 2014 will accepted as valid by the court, Jackson was named for a one-tenth share and $100,000 cash. She was also listed as a co-executor in Rofe’s final will. She typed this will for Rofe and accompanied him on the car trip to a doctor’s surgery where the ageing barrister was considered mentally capable of signing a will.

Mr Hayes said a formal decision seeking to claw back funds from Jackson’s inheritance, including the approval of union spending for trustee fees and legal costs, would be made at an HSU national executive meeting next week. “As soon as we get the advice back, we are keen to pursue the matter,” he said. “It is the appropriate legal and financial thing to do following this decision, if the legal advice supports that.

“This is something that our members — many hospital cleaners and other hardworking people trying to make ends meet — would be looking at with dismay. And obviously … we would be looking at supporting our members through any possible recovery action.”

Justice Lindsay’s decision on Monday dismissed attempts by opponents of Jackson to shut her out of the late barrister’s estate.