One of the rooms advertised on The Golden Apple's website. Source: Supplied
A BROTHEL empire which had its beginnings in Melbourne is at the centre of a multi-million-dollar legal spat.
Hugh James Bond is pursuing brothel bigwig Mark Paul Gray for a half share of two Sydney sex dens - The Golden Apple and Liaisons.
Mr Bond claims the pair were partners in the legal brothels, but Mr Gray denies there was ever any partnership.
The brother of a Melbourne lawyer with links to the AFL, Mr Gray has proposed a 10-storey, $21 million residential apartment complex on the land on which one of the brothels now sits.
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Mr Bond placed caveats on properties in Melbourne and Sydney, believed to be worth more than $10 million.
But Supreme Court of New South Wales Justice Geoff Lindsay has denied an application by Mr Bond to extend the caveats or lodge fresh ones where they had lapsed.
Justice Lindsay said Mr Bond would not or could not provide an effective undertaking as to damages.
"Taking everything into account, I am comfortably satisfied the interests of justice are likely to be best served by refusal of the interlocutory relief the plaintiff seeks," Justice Lindsay said.
Hugh James Bond is pursuing a half share of two Sydney sex dens.
He said there was no evidence the defendants - Mr Gray and a series of companies he owns - would try to dissipate the assets.
Mr Bond eventually wants the NSW Supreme Court to declare that he is entitled to a 50 per cent share of what he says are assets of his partnership with Mr Gray.
Mr Bond claims he helped to fund the brothel empire when he gave Mr Gray $65,000 in 1996 to purchase a half share in The Candy Club in Richmond. The total cost was $130,000.
Mr Gray strenuously denies Mr Bond handed over any money.
In an amended statement of claim filed with the court, Mr Bond claims he worked as a security guard at Richmond brothel Club 234 from about 1993.
Mr Gray was a part-owner of the brothel.
Mr Bond says the pair ran The Candy Club together for two to three months, splitting the profits 50-50, before they sought to get their $130,000 back from the previous owner.
Mr Bond claims Mr Gray kept his $65,000 share and set off for Sydney, establishing an escort service.
The Candy Club in Richmond.
He alleges it was a 50-50 partnership, with Mr Bond responsible for engaging and managing female sex workers for the business.
In the interim, Mr Bond alleges the pair agreed to purchase The Golden Apple brothel in Potts Point using the initial partnership money and the profits of the escort business and run it together in 2000.
Mr Bond claims the pair agreed to buy Liaisons in Edgecliff in 2003 and run the business together. In 2005, the property housing Liaisons was purchased, and in 2008, the property housing The Golden Apple was bought.
But Mr Gray's legal team argues that Mr Bond did not contribute any of the money toward the purchase of The Candy Club.
Mr Gray says he and Mr Bond did discuss purchasing The Candy Club but that he alone provided the purchase consideration.
He said that for the purchase to proceed, Mr Bond had to obtain a licence. That never happened and the purchase of The Candy Club did not go ahead, according to court documents.
Mr Gray denies that Mr Bond had anything to do with the purchase of The Golden Apple and Liaisons or the properties. He says he went to Sydney to operate The Golden Apple with another man.
Mr Gray says that he signed a 2010 document stating that Mr Bond was entitled to a 50 per cent share of the net proceeds of sale of the two brothels and a series of properties only under duress.
One of the working girls from The Golden Apple.
Mr Gray's lawyers say he has complained to Kings Cross detectives about the alleged duress and the document is of no force.
Melbourne barrister Robert Richter, QC, represented Mr Gray in an application for an apprehended violence order in a NSW local court.
In the end, Mr Bond signed an undertaking not to go near Mr Gray or the businesses, according to court documents.
Mr Gray claimed during the AVO hearing that Mr Bond had been threatening him and he had handed over $565,000 in 2010.
In the NSW Supreme Court, Mr Gray's lawyers drew attention to Mr Bond's criminal convictions.
Justice Lindsay said in a judgment that questions of credit were likely to be paramount in the final hearing.
"I am prepared to find that there is a serious question to be tried," Justice Lindsay said.
"The plaintiff, it seems, contends he was a silent partner, whose interest in the partnership between himself and the first defendant was kept from others."
Mr Bond, of Bellevue Hill, NSW, claims he has been shut out of the partnership since 2010, when Mr Gray started proceedings for an AVO order against him.
In court late last month, Mr Gray's lawyers argued Mr Bond did not have a caveatable interest in the properties.
Mr Gray wanted the caveats removed from the Edgecliff property. The Edgecliff properties are owned by businesses where Mr Gray is the sole director.
His lawyers argued the caveats could affect his ability to secure a joint venture partner from investing in his proposal to build a residential complex.
Mr Bond is pursuing Mr Gray and a series of companies controlled by him.
