Kathy Jackson’s career: from union fraudster to bankrupt to instant millionaire

Convicted fraudster Kathy Jackson will inherit up to $3m after a judge ruled the final will signed by the late barrister David Rofe QC was valid.

Kathy Jackson arrives at a Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance and Corruption hearing in 2014 with Sydney barrister David Rofe. Picture: AAP

Convicted union fraudster Kathy Jackson will inherit up to $3m after a NSW ­Supreme Court judge ruled that the final will out of dozens signed by the late prominent Sydney barrister David Rofe QC was legally valid.

Among other beneficiaries was Nick Llewellyn, self-­described as the barrister’s “virtual son”.

Judge Geoff Lindsay accepted in a decision handed down late on Monday that Rofe had knowledge of his actions and was not unduly influenced by others when he signed his final will in December 2014, despite his health being in serious decline after he had been diagnosed with dementia four years earlier.

Rofe’s estate was valued at $30m at the time of his death in July 2017, aged 85, and his final will named Jackson and others to receive one-tenth shares.

The decision by Justice Lindsay is the climax of an extraordinary court battle over the estate of a rich Sydney barrister who never married and had no children but amassed a vast fortune from his earnings as a top silk over many decades and through wise investments.

While the beneficiaries of Rofe’s estate include a collection of relatives and old friends, the inclusion of Jackson for such a large share of the barrister’s estate was a matter of significant controversy, not only because she met Rofe some years after his dementia diag­nosis but also because she was convicted of fraud late last year.

She was also a former bankrupt owing $2.4m to the Health Ser­vices Union when Rofe died.

Last November, Jackson was sentenced to 30 months, in a suspended jail sentence, after a Victorian County Court judge found her guilty of defrauding the HSU of $102,892 between 2003 and 2010.

The 52-year-old former HSU leader pleaded guilty in a plea agreement deal, accepting she had “very deliberately and dishonestly” deceived the union.

She faced a larger set of charges if the matter had gone to trial.

She was found not guilty of 18 out of 21 further charges in an separate criminal trial held in 2019.

After a six-week probate hearing before Justice Lindsay last year that was called to determine which of Rofe’s many wills was valid, opponents of Jackson seeking to shut her out of any Rofe inheritance tried to cast doubt on her character by submitting to Justice Lindsay the details of her recent conviction and sentence.

‘Virtual son’: Nick Llewellyn. Picture: Britta Campion

In making his decision, Justice Lindsay accepted Jackson was a legitimate beneficiary after she had become close to Rofe in the latter stages of his life.

The judge did not accept the arguments of Jackson opponents who challenged the alleged credibility of the final will on the basis Jackson typed it for the ageing barrister, was named as one of his three executers, and drove with him to a doctor’s surgery on the day that a specialist determined Rofe had the capacity to sign a will.

The battle over Rofe’s final will was complicated by Jackson’s former bankruptcy because the HSU could claim it was entitled to any inheritance she received. Jackson was in the middle of three years bankruptcy in July 2017 when Rofe died. She had filed for bankruptcy a year earlier when HSU lawyers were chasing her for a $2.4m debt.

While Jackson was convicted of criminally defrauding the HSU of more than $100,000 late last year, the Federal Court accepted in a 2015 civil decision she mis­appropriated about $1.4m from the union and added an extra $1m in interest and legal costs owed.

Jackson did not pay that sum after filing for bankruptcy. She is now free of debt after the bankruptcy period ended, but during her evidence as a witness in the Rofe probate case, she said she accepted it was possible the HSU’s lawyers or her former bankruptcy trustee could seek to recoup funds she received as a beneficiary of the Rofe estate because she was still in a period of bankruptcy and owing $2.4m at the time he died.

It is unclear at this stage whether the HSU will seek to reactivate its claim against Jackson for $2.4m.

 

If no attempt is made to do so, Jackson will walk away with up to $3m based on estimates of Rofe’s estate at the time of his death.

The estimated value of the estate is believed to have been whittled back by $5m or more because of taxes and legal costs incurred in the past four years.

The largest beneficiary under the terms of Rofe’s final will is Gregg Hele, the barrister’s partner more than 30 years ago who remained a close friend.

Hele stands to receive up to $6m from the will, which leaves him a two-tenths share. Unlike some others in the many wills, he was named in all of them for varying amounts up to the two-tenths he will now receive.

Hele became closer to Rofe in his last years, moving into his home and serving as his paid carer.

Another significant beneficiary is Nick Llewellyn, who met Rofe in 2002 and was later self-described as the barrister’s “virtual son”.

Rofe often paid Llewellyn’s rent and credit card expenses, and a Gold Coast apartment was bought for him in Rofe’s name by Jackson’s partner Michael Lawler when he was briefly Rofe’s power of attorney and fin­ancial manager.

Llewellyn will receive the same share as Jackson and the Gold Coast apartment. There is a catch: he may be required under the final will to repay debts of more than $2m, which would largely cancel out most of his inheritance.

The other main beneficiaries are various nieces and nephews and a Rofe friend, Tim Murphy.

The decision could be subject to appeal, although the cost of doing so could be prohibitive for the losers, who must pay legal costs.