InkBlog

A man from Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula has found himself at the centre of a multimillion dollar legal battle after receiving a $70,000 loan from the late son of real estate mogul Mark Casey.

Stephen Giderson – the ex-boyfriend of Real Housewives of Melbourne star and socialite Susie McLean – and his parents Norman and Michelle, are being sued with Mr Casey claiming Stephen owes $660 million because the loan included sky-high interest rates.

Mr Casey took the Sorrento locals to court after they declined to pay a hefty sum that he says arises from a loan given to Stephen from his diabetic son James, who died in August last year after forgetting to take his insulin on a night out.

According to Supreme Court documents seen by news.com.au, it is claimed Mr Casey’s 26-year-old son lent Stephen – a technologist and entrepreneur – $40,880, on August 29, 2017.

The loan agreement came with the condition that Stephen and his parents all provide guarantees, according to the Statement of Claim – which the parents deny having any involvement with.

Stephen had a year to make the repayments, which came with a hefty interest rate of either 15 per cent or the lower rate of 10 per cent per calendar month.

However, it is alleged Stephen didn’t abide by the terms of the loan, with the Statement of Claim suggesting he “failed to make any repayments towards the Principal under the 2017 Loan Agreement”.

It was only until two months later, Stephen contributed just over $5000 to the loan, with a balance of just over $44,000 still owed to James, according to the Statement of Claim.

Seven months later, Stephen entered into a second loan agreement with James, this time for $30,000, with the repayment date, again, a year from the time the loan was taken out and the guarantee conditions the same as the first loan.

However, just like the first loan, it is alleged Stephen failed to fully repay the second loan in time, before managing to make two $5000 contributions on September 5, 2019 and February 18, 2020.

The Dropspot.io cryptocurrency site co-founder later paid another $14,500 in seven payments across the six months that followed.

In October 2021, Stephen made another attempt to pay back James, by offering him shares in his rich-lister backed cleaning company Whizz technologies.

“The Whizz Shares were purported by Stephen to be worth $47,700.00 at the time of transfer,” court documents state.

By December that year, it is alleged Stephen still owed millions of dollars to James, with the property tycoon’s son’s solicitors issuing a Notice of Default and Demand on the Borrower.

Consequently, according to Mr Casey, Stephen was required to pay just over $1.6 million to James in respect of the 2018 Loan Agreement, however he failed to comply with the demand.

Mr Casey claims the family are now indebted to James’ Estate a total of almost $660 million across the two loans, due to Stephen’s parents also providing guarantees for the loans.

Consequently, Mr Casey is calling on the family to give them their home in Sorrento after a caveat was put on it.

However, Stephen’s parents Norman and Michelle deny they had anything to do with the loan, The Herald Sun reports.

“I mean, I don’t know how you get $660 million, there was a compound interest but I can’t even believe that figure,” Norman told the publication.

He added he wouldn’t borrow money at such a “ridiculous rate” even if he was paid, coining the move “loan sharking”.

While Mr Casey was reluctant to admit it at the start, he later told the publication the rate charged isn’t “realistic” now and didn’t believe a court would “uphold something like that”, hence why he offered to settle the debt for $190,000.

However, he did argue the interest rate was “normal” for such a short-term loan at the time, and would have worked out if Stephen paid back the loan in the time frame he signed up for.

More Coverage

As for Stephen, he told The Herald Sun he was a “close, personal” friend of James and believed the loans were “on the right footing”.

“It probably should never have got to this point but lawyers got in the middle without other people knowing what’s going on,” he said.

The case remains ongoing, with Stephen claiming he has now repaid the loans and hopes to resolve the “misunderstanding” at a mediation with James’ estate.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7r7HWrGWcp51jrrZ7xaKlmqaTmnyuu82esGiooqS9pr7TsmSmp5equW6tzZ1krKeip7KvwM5mnZqlmaHGbrXNZpmirKSav264xKCYpWWUnsCxwdOeZKiulad6d4KPZqSipJyevK95w56ZrWeemsS0edKtpquxX2muooGRb26ba2mXf3OulZ1ubJqUl36jrZZvmpueaGmz