When tyre king Bob Jane was in the middle of a very public and messy divorce with his third wife, Laree, he turned to his son, Rodney, for help and support, a court heard today.
Mr Jane told the Supreme Court he had loved and trusted his son.
The Janes' marriage was one of extravagant spending and world travel.But father and son have since fallen out and the 83-year-old motorsport legend has taken legal action against Rodney to try to recover $2.9 million in alleged loans.
Mr Jane is suing Bob Jane Corporation, which is headed by Rodney, the
son of his second wife Geraldine, over a $2.4 million loan used to buy a
property for the company's head office in Port Melbourne.
Mr Jane claims he is also owed $520,000 used to buy a property in Dandenong for a Bob Jane T-Mart franchise.
The issues in dispute are whether the $520,000 had been a gift or a loan to Rodney, and whether the $2.4 million had been repaid to Mr Jane by the Bob Jane Corporation.
Giving evidence from the witness stand just metres from where his son
was sitting behind his lawyers taking notes, a frail Mr Jane told
Justice Michael Sifris how he had left school at 13 before going on to
build the multi-million dollar Bob Jane T-Marts business empire.
Rodney came to work for his father in the 1990s because he wanted him to learn the family business.
(Bob Jane's ex-wife Laree was involved in a very public and messy divorce from the tyre king. Photo: Joe Armao)
Questioned by his barrister Geoffrey McCormick, Mr Jane
agreed he had gone through a very public and messy divorce with his
third wife, Laree, after he suffered a stroke in 2006 but the couple had
since reconciled about two years ago.
The couple had had three children before Laree left him in November 2006 after almost 20 years of marriage.
In January 2009, Laree was cleared by a County Court jury of falsely imprisoning, assaulting and threatening to stab Mr Jane at a riverside apartment in South Yarra in December 2006. During the trial the court heard that the Janes' marriage was one of extravagant spending and world travel. Their possessions included a Bentley, a Ferrari, a helicopter, a yacht, many properties, and millions of dollars worth of jewellery.
Mr Jane had met Laree in 1987 when he was 58 and she was 19. He was a VIP judge of the Miss Bathurst beauty pageant and she came runner-up.
Mr Jane told the court today that he and Laree had sold properties they did not want over the years for about $18 million and the money was deposited into the company's loan account "in dribs and drabs".
The loan account had been in credit of more than $10 million in 2002. There was nothing left by 2008.
Mr Jane said everything changed after he had had his stroke in 2006 causing him to suffer from significant memory loss.
He did not care much about anything after the stroke and trusted Rodney, who was by then the company's chief executive, and his staff to run things.
Mr Jane said while he was recovering from a spinal operation after his stroke, Laree left him and filed for divorce.
Mr Jane claimed he was later tricked into resigning as a director of the Bob Jane Corporation in 2011.
His health had not been good for years and he now needed a motorised scooter or wheelchair to get around.
Mr Jane said his company had been making between $400 million to $500 million a year and it was ‘‘another bloody lie’’ to suggest he had given everything to Rodney since he had three other children.
He could not believe he had been fooled and robbed by Rodney and his staff.
‘‘I lost everything I possess except my home (at Diggers Rest),’’ Mr Jane said.
He told the judge he believed his signature on one document was a forgery and he had been treated like rubbish.
‘‘Look I’m not crying a sick man. The reality is read about stroke victims ... what the affects are,’’ Mr Jane said.
The civil trial continues.
The issues in dispute are whether the $520,000 had been a gift or a loan to Rodney, and whether the $2.4 million had been repaid to Mr Jane by the Bob Jane Corporation.
Rodney came to work for his father in the 1990s because he wanted him to learn the family business.
(Bob Jane's ex-wife Laree was involved in a very public and messy divorce from the tyre king. Photo: Joe Armao)
The couple had had three children before Laree left him in November 2006 after almost 20 years of marriage.
In January 2009, Laree was cleared by a County Court jury of falsely imprisoning, assaulting and threatening to stab Mr Jane at a riverside apartment in South Yarra in December 2006. During the trial the court heard that the Janes' marriage was one of extravagant spending and world travel. Their possessions included a Bentley, a Ferrari, a helicopter, a yacht, many properties, and millions of dollars worth of jewellery.
Mr Jane had met Laree in 1987 when he was 58 and she was 19. He was a VIP judge of the Miss Bathurst beauty pageant and she came runner-up.
Mr Jane told the court today that he and Laree had sold properties they did not want over the years for about $18 million and the money was deposited into the company's loan account "in dribs and drabs".
The loan account had been in credit of more than $10 million in 2002. There was nothing left by 2008.
Mr Jane said everything changed after he had had his stroke in 2006 causing him to suffer from significant memory loss.
He did not care much about anything after the stroke and trusted Rodney, who was by then the company's chief executive, and his staff to run things.
Mr Jane said while he was recovering from a spinal operation after his stroke, Laree left him and filed for divorce.
Mr Jane claimed he was later tricked into resigning as a director of the Bob Jane Corporation in 2011.
His health had not been good for years and he now needed a motorised scooter or wheelchair to get around.
Mr Jane said his company had been making between $400 million to $500 million a year and it was ‘‘another bloody lie’’ to suggest he had given everything to Rodney since he had three other children.
He could not believe he had been fooled and robbed by Rodney and his staff.
‘‘I lost everything I possess except my home (at Diggers Rest),’’ Mr Jane said.
He told the judge he believed his signature on one document was a forgery and he had been treated like rubbish.
‘‘Look I’m not crying a sick man. The reality is read about stroke victims ... what the affects are,’’ Mr Jane said.
The civil trial continues.
heraldsun.com.au 9 May 2013
Another very public and bitter for Mr. Bob Jane, trial, where the laundry was there to see for all.
From information obtained from people close to the Jane's, a selfish, money hungry woman is how Laree has been described.
Alternatively, in the words of corpau part of the OHS club.
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