27-05-2025
Pub baron's eye-watering debts get personal as he's accused of remortgaging his mother's multimillion-dollar Rose Bay home without her knowing
A playboy executive turned pub baron allegedly remortgaged his mother's luxurious Sydney mansion without her knowledge in a bid to pay off his pub empire's debts.
Jon Adgemis allegedly mortgaged the Rose Bay home to pay of his business debts to La Trobe Financial, which now amount to $6.2million.
The financier applied to the courts to take possession of the mansion – bought in 2018 for $4.5million – in a bid to recoup its loans.
La Trobe would then look to sell it for as much as $10million.
However, the financier has run into trouble trying to enforce the move.
His mother is fighting to keep the property, where both her daughter and grandson live, according to court documents.
Justice Stephen Rothman heard the case and made a preliminary judgement to allow it to proceed.
He stated Adgemis' mother is claiming she 'does not recall and has no record of ever receiving' any legal documentation from La Trobe's endeavours to enforce a loan agreement, according to the Australian Financial Review.
She denied hiring the law firm which represented her in the main dispute.
A default judgement made against her was overturned and a cross-claim filed to remove the mortgage.
The mortgage had been taken 'without the knowledge of the first defendant and without her authority,' Justice Rothman said in his written explanation of the claim.
Adgemis 'conducted all of the meetings and arrangements in relation to the property and mortgage, none of which seems to have been explained or adequately explained,' to his mother.
In a ruling on the house dispute, Justice Rothman said it could be argued the ownership between Mr Adgemis and his mother changed.
In such a case, it would follow that debts could only be enforced against the businessman.
Justice Rothman considered Mr Adgemis' nephew, who is disabled, needs full time care and lived in the Rose Bay home following the installation of a series of modifications made to cater to his needs.
The nephew may have beneficial ownership in some of the equity in the home, the justice said, and he would need to be represented in the case to have his interests asserted.
Justice Rothman granted a temporary stay on La Trobe financiers taking possession of the property given Mr Adgemis' mother had an 'arguable case'.
She is set to file her defence in June.
Adgemis' woes began after he left his dealmaker role at professional services heavyweight KPMG.
He was the head of mergers and acquisitions at accounting giant KPMG.
He founded the Public Hospitality group in 2021 and accumulated a sprawling portfolio of 20 venues and developments across Sydney.
One of his companies splashed more than $50million on pubs.
The portfolio included The Town Hall in Balmain, The Kurrajong in Erskineville, The Exchange in Darlinghurst and The Camelia Grove in Alexandria.
He funded the rapid acquisitions and developments with borrowed money, against a low cash-rate during the pandemic.
Increased financing costs sent his company to the brink of collapse in recent years, and a number of the venues went into administration in 2024.
Monacobased fashion heir Richard Gazal also brought legal action against Adgemis with a personal bankruptcy claim to the tune of $26million plus interest.
Public Kitchen, an entity within Public Hospitality, also faces winding-up by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) in the Federal Court.
The ATO clocked an alleged $286,175 default on the firm last week, filed to the courts on Friday.
In the past, the taxation office also conducted raids on Adgemis' home and business.
