Key Takeaways:
- Peter Kontista, also known as Thomas Crown, is a property investor with a history of debt and legal issues.
- Crown’s business dealings have been marred by unpaid bills, bankrupt companies, and disputes with lenders and contractors.
- He has been involved in several high-profile property deals, including the purchase of a $101 million farm in the Southern Highlands.
- Crown’s financial woes have led to the appointment of receivers to manage his assets, and he is facing legal action from creditors.
- Despite his troubles, Crown still has some support from individuals who believe that the lenders who enabled his borrowing habits are also to blame.
Introduction to Peter Kontista
Peter Kontista, also known as Thomas Crown, is a property investor with a complex and often tumultuous history. To his classmates at St Gregory’s College Campbelltown, Kontista was a likeable guy and a member of the well-respected Camden family behind the C Kontista Real Estate agency. However, his life took a dramatic turn when he changed his name to Thomas Crown, and his business dealings became increasingly entangled in debt and legal issues. A forensic look at the public records behind his business forays reveals an increasingly onerous reliance on non-bank lending, which has faltered under the weight of its debts.
The Early Years
When Kontista was starting out, it was with help from ANZ, not private credit. Having registered for his building license a year out of school, he bought his first property, aged 20, in Camden Park for $320,000. That same month, he established a home building and renovation company, Permak Developments. Among the company’s first big jobs was a house in need of work in the heart of Camden, which was bought in Kontista’s name in 2006 for $270,000. However, Kontista’s business dealings were soon marred by unpaid bills and disputes with contractors, including retired concreter Kevin Scattergood, who was left with an unpaid bill of almost $45,000.
The Name Change
Kontista’s former name was last seen on corporate records in early 2008 when he resigned as a director from Resilient Enterprises Pty Ltd. He rejoined the company in 2011 as Thomas Crown, and corporate records, mortgages, and signatures from that time were in the name of Thomas Crown. Some who knew him wondered if his name was inspired by the 1999 hit movie The Thomas Crown Affair starring Pierce Brosnan. Either way, by late 2013, Crown’s corporate records were in the name of Thomas Peter Crown, and he goes by his middle name.
Commercial Gains and Losses
To Crown’s credit, his reputation as a shrewd property investor is backed by title records. In a series of commercial property flips in the Camden area from 2013, he made a total capital gain of more than $3 million from three properties alone. However, other Camden investments were even more lucrative but also highly leveraged, judging by the slew of mortgages and caveats registered on title during Crown’s ownership. Two of those properties were owned in separate company names, both of which were placed into voluntary liquidation last year, owing the Tax Office $970,000 and $294,000, respectively.
The Southern Highlands
Just as Crown was being cleared for his AXP share trades in 2021, Hume Coal lost its decade-long bid to build an underground mine under vast swaths of pastureland in the Southern Highlands. In response, the South Korean parent company, Posco, put the entire aggregation of farms up for sale in one job lot. What followed was a bold property play in which Crown emerged as the bullish $101 million buyer, secured behind the scenes by loans from three non-bank lenders after National Australia Bank pulled its in-principal approval a few weeks before settlement. However, within days of taking possession, Crown flipped the largest farm, Mereworth, to the Medich family for more than $49 million.
Financial Woes and Receivership
As the deadline on the Merricks Capital debt lapsed in 2023, and various corporate entities were handed to receiver Costa Nicodemou, of Newpoint Advisory, Crown hatched his grandest plans yet. However, his financial woes have grown, and his ranks of supporters have shrunk. Nine months after Crown assembled a team of highly regarded C-suite executives to run his family office, all of them have left amid suggestions they are owed hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid pay, superannuation, and leave entitlements. Listed among the creditors of the companies in receivership is Revenue NSW, second lenders Bridge Street Capital and Saddleback Mountain Estates for their $14 million, and Wingecarribee Shire Council’s more than $10,000.
Conclusion
Peter Kontista, also known as Thomas Crown, is a property investor with a complex and often tumultuous history. His business dealings have been marred by unpaid bills, bankrupt companies, and disputes with lenders and contractors. Despite his troubles, Crown still has some support from individuals who believe that the lenders who enabled his borrowing habits are also to blame. As the receivers continue to manage his assets, and he faces legal action from creditors, it remains to be seen how Crown’s story will unfold. One thing is certain, however: his legacy will be marked by a trail of debt, disputes, and unfinished projects.
