Final chapter unfolds in wake of failed cattle baron Sam Mitchell’s trail of destruction

Once a prospective cattle baron, the tale of Sam Mitchell is almost over as he’s chased by bankruptcy trustees and the tax office for millions of dollars allegedly spirited away from creditors.

Wealthcheck boss Sam Mitchell being welcomed aboard a flight while still operating his business.

The rise and now the fall of disgraced cattle baron Sam Mitchell is nearly over, with the former agri-hopeful now being pursued by bankruptcy trustees and the tax office demanding the return of millions of dollars allegedly spirited away from creditors.

Mr Mitchell, a would-be scion of Australia’s agribusiness scene once feted by members of the media and a fixture of the North Bondi circuit, is now reduced to hiding from former backers in his San Diego home.

His former business partners, including LAWD boss Danny Thomas, are frantically seeking to distance themselves from the wreckage left in Mr Mitchell’s wake, with failed farms across Australia his lasting legacy.

Sam Mitchell's home in San Diego, California.

In recent weeks a number of companies linked to Mr Mitchell have been struck off or wound up, consigned to the scrap heap.

Instead of assembling an empire worth more than $1bn, Mr Mitchell is now being hounded by Hong Kong lenders, the Australian Taxation Office and bankruptcy trustees amid allegations he sought to whisk away cash owed to investors and staff and illegally manoeuvre to block attempts to seize his assets.

Court documents show Hall Chadwick partner Matthew Vines, Mr Mitchell’s bankruptcy trustee, alleged the former cattle baron attempted to engineer a number of transactions to block access to his assets amid a dispute with lenders and the tax man.

This came as Mr Vines and liquidators moved to chase down millions held by Mr Mitchell, once a premier land and agri broker in the Sydney scene.

Mr Mitchell, best known for his Bondi Ag business, also known as Wealthcheck, had made a name for himself in agricultural deal-making circles in recent years striking a number of big-ticket purchases of cattle and agri projects across the country.

Sam Mitchell flying between appointments.

But his burgeoning agri operations, in which he managed properties on behalf of the likes of the Harvard Endowment fund, Brookfield’s agri operation Hartree, Viridios and several other investors, came crashing down in 2024 after lenders moved to call in debts.

Hundreds of millions of dollars in projects were undone, while the ATO is chasing Mr Mitchell over missing superannuation payments and overdue taxes. Across a string of collapsed companies Mr Mitchell owes more than $11m to creditors, suppliers and the tax man.

But many remain out of pocket, with much of the cash once used to buttress the teetering agricultural operation swept from company accounts in 2024 after the collapse of Wealthcheck Management, the key pillar of Mr Mitchell’s empire.

Being hounded by lenders, former business partners, and former staff, Mr Mitchell tipped himself into bankruptcy in September 2024.

The former banana-bread baker turned agricultural deal-maker pulled the ripcord on his financial affairs as ADM Capital closed in on his remaining Australian assets and the ATO ratcheted up the tension over millions in tax and superannuation debts across his failed companies.

Maryfield Station, 200km south of Katherine in the Northern Territory, was owned by North Star Pastoral before its sale to Sam Mitchell.

ADM Capital, a Hong Kong-based lender, clashed with Mr Mitchell over his mammoth $103.4m purchase of the Maryfield and Limbunya cattle stations in 2022, from Colin Ross’s North Star Pastoral. This was soon followed by deals to buy Conway Station for $14.5m and Benmara Station for $40m. All up the stations accounted for more than 1.2 million hectares of cattle land.

Liquidators have alleged Mr Mitchell’s various companies traded while insolvent for years, despite the would-be land baron inking deals to buy and sell agricultural and grazing opportunities across Australia.

Despite being warned he was preparing to leave the country, the ATO did nothing to stop Mr Mitchell leaving for the US or putting blocks on the millions in cash the agri-baron was allegedly funnelling into his accounts.

Court documents show Mr Mitchell told bankruptcy trustees on September 17 last year that he was intending to return to Australia, despite having left for the US months earlier, noting he was still “involved in a number of businesses there”.

Mr Mitchell told Mr Vines he was “hopeful that I can continue my consulting business” upon his return, but noted his caution around “how much bankruptcy affects my industry reputation”.

But court papers allege Mr Mitchell’s assurances came as he was whisking away cash into his American bank accounts.

In his affidavit filed with the court, Mr Vines revealed Mr Mitchell funnelled hundreds of thousands of dollars to his American operation Wealthcheck LLC over the tail end of 2024, after declaring bankruptcy in September.

Mr Vines noted his concern Mr Mitchell was “defeating claims by creditors” and had moved assets outside Australia or attempted to replace trustees, directors or shareholders of his companies to keep them away from bankruptcy trustees.

Mr Mitchell has continued to be spotted around San Diego, one of California’s most well-heeled cities, with an array of holiday decorations showing little dulling of the confidence that brimmed from the deal-maker’s former agricultural operations.

Sam Mitchell photographed at his Californian home.

Parts of Mr Mitchell’s overseas empire have also started crumbling, with his Canadian winery Oak Estate, bought in 2020, put up to sell in a $C6m ($6.6m) campaign.

Hall Chadwick bankruptcy trustees have also dismembered much of his remaining Australian assets, grabbing his farm in the Upper McDonald, near Sydney, as well as moving in to pick up the proceeds of the sale of Mr Mitchell’s 2022 Beechcraft King 260 Air private plane.

But Mr Mitchell leaves a trail of destruction behind him, with failed farms, torched investors and lenders left to pick through dead trees and doomed deals.

Among those burned by Mr Mitchell include Hartree, OakTree’s agricultural investment manager, which paid him out of its stakes in Conway Station, which it snapped up for $14.5m, and Benmara Station, picked up in a $40m deal.

Hartree had been targeting carbon assets from the two cattle stations, but the relationship between the two went sour.

Viridios Capital also struck a deal with Mr Mitchell to buy the $20m Conways Station in the Northern Territory, as part of a major play around carbon credits, before that relationship came unstuck.

Sources said Mr Mitchell failed to come up with his side of the bargain leaving Viridios, run by former ANZ fixed income banker Eddie Listorti, to cover costs.

Limbunya Station, 650km southwest of Katherine.

Mr Mitchell also began slugging Viridios costs for helicopter rides and expenses on his other properties, before Viridios cut his access to accounts.

US investors Folium Capital were also scorched by Mr Mitchell, with the group’s almond and avocado asset Avomond, worth almost $750m, sold in a $150m fire sale last year.

Former investment partners in the Bellvue cattle station, Aqua Ceres, also clashed with Mr Mitchell when questioned on spending, with sources alleging the businessman would routinely erupt into abusive shouting before abruptly hanging up.

One former business partner with Mr Mitchell, in a note to investors, wrote extensively about delays and poor decisions on a citrus property managed by the Sydney businessman.

Other former business partners with Mr Mitchell have noted how the businessman would often make chaotic decisions around plant and equipment, including purchasing picking equipment that was too heavy, resulting in them sinking into the mud when used.

Sources said Mr Mitchell often directed staff to withhold spending on maintenance, resulting in the failure of expensive almond-shaking machines, or refused to pay local staff who worked on the properties.

Lenders Rabobank are among those most exposed to Mr Mitchell’s failures, with the bank extending various lines of credit or mortgages across his various agricultural plays.

Sam Mitchell and wife Andrea Miller are alleged to owe millions of dollars in unpaid taxes, a liquidator’s report says.

The bank has been burned, forced to call in loans across his former assets and selling the failing farms, often resulting in Rabobank taking a loss.

But Rabobank has refused to comment, with the bank leaving pursuing Mr Mitchell to ADM Capital and his bankruptcy trustees.

Mr Mitchell has also refused to comment on his troubles, with the only comment issued by the failed businessman early on in his unwinding, when he told trade press Ag Property Central he was seeking legal advice and cautioning he would “respond in the coming days”.

He has never commented, but former staff and investors have reported being bombarded by Mr Mitchell over email.

Mr Mitchell’s wife Andrea Miller has also not escaped the shockwaves of his collapse, with companies she is director of facing $4m in tax debts and allegations of insolvent trading.

But Ms Miller, who is also in the US with Mr Mitchell, has not slowed down. The former North Bondi figure has made a flurry of updates to the website of her dating coaching business, removing images of Mr Mitchell, the subject of her book How To Get A Guy Worth Keeping.

Originally published as Final chapter unfolds in wake of failed cattle baron Sam Mitchell’s trail of destruction