Was David Rofe QC’s cash buying more than falafel?

The battle over the fortune of a prominent Sydney barrister has taken a bizarre twist.

Michael Lawler and Ruth Coleman at David Rofe’s 82nd birthday party last year.

A woman at the centre of a fierce battle over the $30 million fortune of a prominent Sydney barrister with advanced dementia received an email more than five years ago about regular American Express card spending running to thousands of dollars on “pot” that was ultimately paid using the barrister’s money.

In a 2010 email, Ruth Coleman, who is helping David Rofe QC with his affairs, raised with Mr Rofe’s now-estranged friend Nick Llewel­lyn his regular habit of dining at Habibi, a cheap restaurant in Sydney’s Lebanese food ­district.

At the time, Ms Coleman was Mr Rofe’s secretary, and part of her job was to query the expenses of Mr Llewellyn, whose monthly American Express statements were sent to her for Mr Rofe to pay by cheque.

Mr Llewellyn, an unemployed solicitor who regards himself as Mr Rofe’s “virtual son” and “dependent”, received ad hoc financial support from Mr Rofe in 2010 and continues to receive $10,000 a month from the ailing barrister’s estate to meet living expenses.

He is also the potential beneficiary in Mr Rofe’s will of a large inheritance that is the subject of a bitter legal wrangle — reported by The Australian in February — that involves corruption whistleblower Kathy Jackson and her partner, Michael Lawler, the much-absent vice-president of the Fair Work Commission.

A group of supporters of Mr Rofe from his decades as a top Sydney barrister want a thorough inquiry into the handling of his $30m estate amid revelations of highly unusual spending reported by The Australian.

In the 2010 email Ms Coleman sent to Mr Llewellyn, she listed Mr Llewellyn’s American Express charges and asked: “Please tell me what the following are for and whether they are business.”

Towards the end of the email, Ms Coleman made a friendly aside: “And you must take me to Habibi Lebanese Restaurant Surry Hills — you and/or Curtis (Mr Llewellyn’s partner) go there a lot and I love Lebanese and haven’t had good Lebanese food for ages!”

Mr Llewellyn replied to Ms Coleman: “Ignore everything you see re Habibi — our “pot” dealer is nice enough to take Amex. But his food is great too, and he organises parties on Cleveland Street.”

Mr Llewellyn’s Habibi bills, often weekly and spread across many years, ranged from $200 to $500 each at a restaurant offering falafel for $10 and a $29 meal voucher for two.

Last month, Ms Coleman told The Australian she was aware of “everything” related to Mr Rofe, Mr Llewellyn and the restaurant but did not want to comment. Asked further after The Australian obtained Mr Llewellyn’s January 2010 email correspondence with her, Ms Coleman said: “I did not send the email and knew nothing about the matters to which you refer. I was not in chambers and was on holidays at the time.”

Ms Coleman left her job as Mr Rofe’s secretary later in 2010, the year Mr Rofe was diagnosed with dementia. In mid-2013, she was brought back to assist in Mr Rofe’s affairs and paid $70 an hour — with Mr Llewellyn’s support — but the two have since fallen out.

Ms Coleman remains a strong ally of two other key people involved a long-running battle for control of Mr Rofe’s wealth: Mr Lawler, whose long periods of sick leave have landed him in controversy, and Ms Jackson, whose exposure of the Health Services Union fraudster Michael Williamson has been overshadowed by allegations she misappro­priated $1.4m of HSU funds.

From June 2013 until August last year, Mr Lawler played an important role in Mr Rofe’s life, helping with his finances and working closely with Ms Coleman. Mr Lawler had known Mr Rofe years ago when they shared barristers’ chambers. He was asked by Mr Llewellyn to help with Mr Rofe’s finances after the elderly barrister had a dementia-related breakdown in late 2012.

Ms Jackson, who met in Mr Rofe in 2012, quickly became close to him, and Mr Llewellyn ­alleges she effectively replaced him as an important person in Mr Rofe’s life. Ms Jackson is named in one of Mr Rofe’s disputed wills last year as the potential beneficiary of a $3m inheritance.

Mr Lawler and Ms Jackson continue to have a behind-the-scenes role on Ms Coleman’s side of the battle after also falling out with Mr Llewellyn.

Mr Llewellyn is now barred from seeing Mr Rofe because it is alleged the visits leave Mr Rofe in an agitated state.

Despite this estrangement, Mr Llewellyn continues to receive the monthly $10,000 payments from Mr Rofe’s wealth as his sole income and now lives in a Rofe-owned $1.2m luxury apartment on the Gold Coast with his partner, Curtis Hodges.

Both these arrangements were put in place for Mr Llewellyn by Mr Lawler in 2013 when he had a power of attorney for Mr Rofe and was helping with the elderly barrister’s finances — often during long absences on full pay from his Fair Work position.

Mr Llewellyn’s American Express spending since at least 2010 includes thousands of dollars at the Habibi restaurant.

In an emailed expense-reconciliation request in 2010, Ms Coleman asked Mr Llewellyn if a $315.57 American Express charge at “Zodee P/L Belrose” was for business. He replied: “Was this the purchase of computer software and/or hardware? I think it may be.”

Zodee at Belrose describes its business as women’s specialty shops selling “lingerie for all shapes and sizes” with “a wide ­selection of bras, and fun and practical bikinis”.

Mr Rofe, a man known for his conservative views and lifestyle, does not like Lebanese food.

However, he ultimately paid for Mr Llewellyn’s many dinner bills at Habibi over the years as part of an unofficial arrangement in which he covered Mr Llew­ellyn’s credit-card debts.

In 2011 — 14 months after the Coleman-Llewellyn email exchange — Mr Rofe complained that Mr Llewellyn’s spending was spiralling out of control. Mr ­Llewellyn then told a friend, Nick Illek, by email, that he (Mr ­Llewellyn) would have to “reduce these ridiculous $10k+ per month expenses”.

Mr Llewellyn added, as reported by The Australian in June: “The first to go is Habibi Restaurant re pot and we are quitting this weekend.”

Despite his declared intention, Mr Llewellyn and his partner continued to spend thousands of dollars at Habibi for at least two years at similar rates, according to American Express statements.

In 2013, he charged his Habibi expenses to Mr Rofe’s Mastercard. He told The Australian in May that Mr Rofe helped him during this period with a Mastercard when his own American ­Express card was cut off.

Asked last month about Mr Rofe’s 2011 complaint about Mr Llewellyn’s spending getting out of control and Mr Llewellyn’s email reference at the time to “pot”, Mr Llewellyn said he was “not a perfect human being” but did not want to make any “official comment”.

Asked since about the email exchange with Ms Coleman from January 2010, Mr Llewellyn said Ms Coleman knew “back in 2010 what Habibi is all about”.

He added: “Yes, and she also knew a lot earlier than that.”

Mr Llewellyn said he “never ended up” taking Ms Coleman to Habibi.

He claimed Mr Rofe had full knowledge that he (Mr Llewellyn) “smoked pot”. However, Mr ­Llewellyn did not suggest Mr Rofe had any knowledge of Habibi beyond its Lebanese cuisine.

Mr Llewellyn said he smoked marijuana because it provided some relief from the discomfort of swallowing medication for a health issue. “The pot helps, to ­settle your stomach,” he said.

The restaurant owner, Michael Habibi, told The Australian in June he remembered Mr ­Llewellyn because he had “spent a lot of money” at the restaurant.

Mr Habibi said he did not know why Mr Llewellyn would make a reference to “pot” and did not know what the reference to his restaurant might mean. He was not available for comment yesterday and his Surry Hills restaurant was closed. Mr Rofe is not available for comment in his current state of health.