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Caveats placed on $10m Brighton mansion owned by dairy tsar Antonio Esposito

It's the $10 million Brighton mansion as bold and brash as its owner, with a spiral staircase, grand piano, chandeliers and a swimming pool.

But the trophy home of fallen dairy tsar Antonio Esposito also has another, less desirable, feature: two caveats on the title.

Mr Esposito's National Dairy Products went into liquidation in February, owing creditors – many of them dairy farmers – as much as $6.8 million.

The seven-bedroom Kinane Street property, barely a squint through designer sunglasses from Brighton's famed bathing boxes, was the perfect backdrop for an advertising campaign featuring television personality Matt Preston, wearing a lilac blazer and matching cravat, launched last year

Once, the mansion signified Mr Esposito's success, first as the founder of United Dairy Power, which he sold to a Hong Kong-based company for $70 million, and then as the founder of National Dairy Products.

Now, it is a sign of how many people want a piece of him.

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And the caveats are not even related to the collapse of NDP, meaning dairy farmers could be left without a cut of the profits should Mr Esposito sell. 

Mr Esposito has come out swinging, saying he would welcome a public hearing into NDP, denying any wrongdoing and claiming dairy farmers have been lied to by the former management of the company.

The first caveat on the Brighton mansion was lodged by Mr Esposito's ex-wife in April.

The second was lodged earlier this month by the current owners of UDP, who claim Mr Esposito misled them about the value of the company when they purchased it in 2014.

It is understood lawyers for Mr Esposito's ex-wife, Margaret, who he separated from several years ago, claim an interest in the property as part of ongoing separation proceedings. Mr Esposito remains married to Violetta, who was a director of NDP.

Lawyers for William Hui, the owner of UDP, registered an interest because there is evidence the mansion was funded from the sale.

Mr Esposito and Mr Hui are locked in a dispute about the sale of UDP, with both parties making claims against the other.

Creditors of NDP are questioning why a caveat has not been put on the Brighton mansion on their behalf.

The dairy farmers are troubled by Mr Esposito's champagne lifestyle, which includes spending summers on his yacht on the Gold Coast, and his lavish parties, including his daughter's christening, which featured a performance from Delta Goodrem.

But it is believed liquidator Deloitte Australia are yet to find evidence that links the Brighton property to withdrawals Mr Esposito made from NDP, meaning a caveat cannot be placed on behalf of creditors.

The collapse of NDP led to widespread fears he duped dozens of dairy farmers.

"How are we going to get a piece of it when it's already being carved up?" one NDP creditor said.

Mr Esposito, a dairy broker, essentially acted as a middleman, buying milk directly from farmers, which he then on-sold to the producers of dairy products.

He denies he acted inappropriately, saying it was common practice for a business owner to withdraw cash from a company when they could, and repay it when the company needed it.

"My intention was never to shut any business, and I want to get to the bottom of why it happened," he said.

"I'd rather a public inquiry into what's happened so everyone knows."

Mr Esposito said he was pursuing defamation action against former chief executive of NDP, Darryl Cardona​, who has taken out a court order preventing Mr Esposito from contacting him.

Mr Esposito sent abusive texts to Mr Cardona, who has been outspoken about the conduct of his former boss.