EXCLUSIVE Ormeggio restaurant tycoon's son Daniel Drakopoulos faces court accused of assaulting ex-fiancée and stealing her $40,000 engagement ring

Daily Mail​

15-05-2025

Multi-millionaire restaurant tycoon heir Daniel Drakopoulos allegedly confessed in a phone call two days after he was accused of choking his fiancée and stealing her $40,000 engagement ring, a court has heard.
Drakopoulos, 29, was represented by one of Sydney's most prominent barristers Philip Strickland SC when he fronted Downing Centre Local Court on Thursday.
He was supported in court by his 'King of the Waterfront' diner boss dad Bill Drakopoulos, mother Kathleen, brother Perry, his sister, and other relatives.
He was accused of breaking into the home of his then-partner Monique Clark one night in February 2024, throwing her mobile phone against a wall, and allegedly choking and seriously assaulting her, before taking the ring.
The former private schoolboy, who lives on the millionaires row of harbourside homes at Seaforth on Sydney's northern beaches, was arrested the following morning.
He was charged at Manly police station, just a short drive from one of his father's famed restaurants, Ormeggio on The Spit.
He initially pleaded not guilty to five charges until prosecutors withdrew four counts in court on Thursday, including the choking charge and one serious assault charge.
But Drakopoulos then pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and malicious damage.
His father is the renowned restaurateur behind a string of luxury venues in Sydney 's most elite waterside suburbs, including Manta at Woolloomooloo Finger Wharf - a favourite of celebrities including Elton John and Jon Bon Jovi.
His empire also includes Sails on Sydney Harbour at Lavender Bay, Ventuno on Walsh Bay, and Ripples at four locations around the city.
Daniel Drakopoulos pleaded guilty to assaulting his ex-fiancée after his barrister brokered a deal with prosecutors who originally charged him with choking her and stealing her $40,000 engagement ring
Daniel Drakopoulos (centre) is the son of restaurant mogul, 'King of the Waterfront', Bill Drakopoulos (right) whose family attended the court hearing in force on Thursday
Daniel and his three siblings, who all work as directors of their father's Sydney Restaurant Group, have lived an idyllic life flying around the world on luxury escapes to places such as the Maldives, Ibiza, Tokyo and Greece.
It appeared that most of the clan was at the court and his lawyer told Magistrate Brett Thomas that Drakopoulos was 'obviously very anxious … for this matter to proceed. (He's) come here with his family'.
Constable Duncan Everett told the court Drakopoulos allegedly phoned Ms Clark two days after the alleged incident, in a call that was at least 19 minutes long.
He said there was an eight-minute 'snippet' of the call and police tendered transcripts of both versions of the call to the court.
The also gave Magistrate Thomas four pages of screenshots from Ms Clark's phone.
Police allegeD Daniel went to Ms Clark's Paddington rented home in Sydney's east and broke in on February 4 last year.
Prosecutors subsequently withdrew the charge of break and enter with intent.
He then destroyed or damaged her phone by throwing it against the wall, and assaulted her.
According to court documents, Danieé allegedly stole his fiancées engagement ring, worth $40,000, but in court on Thursday, prosecutors withdrew the charge of larceny.
Daniel Drakopoulos (left), pictured with his father Bill (centre) and brother Perry (right), has pleading guilty to the serious assault of his ex-fiancée, but a charge of stealing her $40,000 engagement ring was withdrawn
The plea deal came after a legal row over the use of the evidence about Drakopoulos' phone call after the alleged attack.
Ms Clark had not sought permission from Mr Drakopoulos to made a recording of the phone call, and the prosecution had not provided evidence of the circumstances.
Con. Everett told the court he had simply 'forgotten' to provide details about the call and about videos taken of Ms Clarke's house following the incident.
Sgt Clarke admitted there had been oversights in the prosecution's preparation for the case which was set down for a two-day hearing, but for which she requested an adjournment to get it 'back on the rails'.
Mr Strickland opposed this, saying the prosecution's failures went 'beyond mere oversight' and that the 'degree of negligence is very high'.
But over the lunch break on Thursday, each side resolved their differences and they brokered the deal for him to admit the two charges while the others were dropped.
A graduate from the exclusive St Ignatius College at Riverview, Daniel Jackson Darkopoulos has more recently developed new ventures to expand his father's hugely successful business beyond its high-end Sydney restaurants.
Along with his younger brother, Daniel was 'growing Drak Hotels, another part of Sydney Restaurant Group', which includes the Coast Hotel at Budgewoi on the NSW Central Coast.
Drakopoulos will be sentenced on Friday.