Nosy Neighbours Expose Dentist's Widow; Real Estate Rift Heats Up; Confronting Barry's Bootcamp Trainer

Welcome to The Group Chat with Lucy Manly, where Australia’s most-trusted society insider shares the hottest gossip BEFORE it makes the news

Neighbourhood watch

The allegedly defrauded patients of the late Perth dentist Dr David Hurst are mounting a case with legal firm Slater and Gordon to get their money back.

Sarah Marshman, the firm’s medical law practice leader, is representing 20 of Dr Hurst’s former patients whom he allegedly persuaded to use their superannuation to pay for expensive dental work that was either botched or incomplete.

Some patients claim to have paid more than $70,000 in advance for procedures that never occurred and have yet to be reimbursed.

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Clara Hurst is pictured left with sisters Crista, right, and Ana, centre, on a previous European holiday. She is now back in Europe with her two children as Slater and Gordon mounts its case

As previously covered in this column, Hurst’s patients report being left in constant pain with broken implants, infections, and other untreated complications.

Dr Hurst, a Welsh-born father of two, died last December at the Crown Perth casino while his wife, cosmetician Clara Hurst, and their children were on holiday in Bali.

He allegedly withdrew more than $7million from his practice, Perth Dental Rooms, before his death, rendering it insolvent.

He had previously been convicted of defrauding Britain’s National Health Service through forged patient declarations, for which he received a suspended jail sentence in 2012 after pleading guilty to 69 counts of theft.

Following that scandal, he moved to Australia, where his criminal record did not stop him from continuing to practise dentistry.

As patients fight for their insurance claims, his widow Clara, the caretaker of his estate, is chasing the European summer.

She is also in the middle of an extensive renovation of the couple’s Spanish-style home in Claremont, in Perth’s western suburbs, even hiring go-to interior stylist Phoebe Nicol.

‘It’s only a matter of time before she puts it on the market. It’s pretty much an open secret that’s what she’s planning to do,’ a neighbour tells me.

Convicted British fraudster David Hurst (left, with his cosmetician wife Clara) allegedly defrauded his patients in Australia before his sudden death last December

‘I hope the lawyers put a caveat on the property before she sells.’

Ms Marshman of Slater and Gordon said in a statement: ‘We’re advising a number of former patients of Dr David Hurst in relation to potential civil claims for medical negligence, as well as alleged breaches of the Australian Consumer Law involving misleading conduct and defective dental implants.

‘Since taking on these matters, we’ve uncovered a deeply troubling pattern. Patients were often encouraged to access their superannuation to fund expensive dental work, only to be left mid-treatment, in pain, and out of pocket. We’re seeing not only significant disruption and financial losses but also lasting pain and suffering.

‘We’re continuing to assess the extent of harm and financial impact across the group of clients that has engaged us. The common thread is a lack of informed consent, substandard work, and little to no follow-up care.

‘With respect to your question regarding Dr Clara Hurst and any potential caveats, we are not in a position to comment.’

When I contacted Clara Hurst for comment on the potential civil claims being brought by Slater and Gordon, I was referred to her previous statement:

‘In my capacity as executor of the estate I have received numerous potential claims in relation to my late husband’s dental practice,’ she said.

‘I can confirm that I have diligently acted as the executor in informing all relevant parties of any potential claim against the estate of my late husband.’

Trainer’s careless talk

I hauled myself to Surry Hills for an appointment at the buzzy fitness studio Barry’s Bootcamp on Tuesday morning.

But I wasn’t there to work out. I was confronting one of the famous club’s senior trainers over rumours she’s been spreading about her impending fame…

You see, Alicia ‘Leash’ Beveridge has been bragging to clients that she has been cast on next year’s season of Nine’s Married At First Sight, which begins filming in a few months’ time.

Alicia Beveridge (left), a founding trainer of Barry’s Bootcamp, was seen arriving at the gym’s Surry Hills studio on Tuesday

I’ve heard whispers Leash has been telling clients she is set to appear on the next season of Married At First Sight. She didn’t exactly deny it when I confronted her on Tuesday

When I caught her in a tracksuit and trainers arriving at the studio, she didn’t exactly deny being loose-lipped about her looming TV gig.

‘I guess you could say there are rumours,’ she told me.

She refused to confirm or deny she was locked in for MAFS but was happy to describe to me her ideal suitor – ‘if I were to appear on a dating show’. Hmm.

‘I would like to be with someone kind, someone patient. I know I am sober, but it doesn’t need to be a journey they are on too,’ she said.

The petite 41-year-old made headlines in March 2023 when she was fined $750 and disqualified from driving for three months after being busted with cocaine and alcohol in her system while behind the wheel the previous December.

At the time of the offence, she told police she was on her way to the gym where she is a founding instructor. She admitted to drinking a bottle of red wine and having done ‘two lines’ the day before.

On Instagram, Beveridge describes herself as an ‘endorphin dealer’ who is fond of ‘unLEASHing endorphins, sweat and sobriety’.

She acknowledged her six months of sobriety in an Instagram post last month. Good luck getting through a MAFS dinner party without drinking…

In March 2023, Beveridge was fined $750 and disqualified from driving for three months after being busted with cocaine and alcohol in her system while behind the wheel

She acknowledged her six months of sobriety in an Instagram post last month

Sitting this one out

The multimillion-dollar art scam involving fake Marie Antoinette chairs that rocked French society is finally finis with the perps slapped with hefty fines.

All very Euro trash. So why is it the talk of Melbourne high society?

Because ten years ago, as the fraudulent chairs furore was blowing up, French art consultant – and unwitting supplier in the saga – Guillaume Dillée left Paris for the Garden City.

Guillaume Dillée is a doyen of Melbourne’s art scene after arriving on our shores a decade ago when he was unwittingly thrust into a fraud involving fake Marie Antoinette chairs

And the soignée French gentleman was welcomed with open arms and wet European cheek kisses from the moment he touched down on our shores.

His fans included the Myer-Baillieu family who hosted an exhibition of his paintings, and the National Gallery of Victoria’s esteemed director Tony Ellwood who snapped up Dillée to acquire artworks for the NGV.

It was a sublime return to form for the man who had, in 2015, been the unsuspecting middleman who supplied four fake chairs – said to have been made for Marie Antoinette or used by Louis XV‘s mistress Madame Du Barry – to the prestigious Kraemer Gallery, whose clients include the Rothschilds, J. Paul Getty and Karl Lagerfeld.

Kraemer sold two of the fake chairs to Qatari Prince Mohammed bin Hamad Al Thani for €2million (AU$3.25million or $US2.15million). Two other chairs were considered by the Palace of Versailles as the scandale broke but were later sent back.

Antiques dealer Bill Pallot (seen in 1998) was considered a top scholar of 18th-century French furniture… until he authenticated fake chairs purportedly crafted for Marie Antoinette

The men at the centre of the chair fiasco were expert cabinetmaker Bruno Desnoues, and Dillée’s close friend Bill Pallot, then considered the world’s leading expert on 18th-century French furniture.

It was later revealed that Desnoues had made the chairs, which were then authenticated by Pallot. As has been wittily said since, the only ‘real thing’ about the whole affair was the money exchanged.

As the art forgery scam was investigated by French police, France’s reputation as the centre of excellence for such pre-French Revolution objets took a battering.

It was a quelle horreur moment for the Parisian establishment (Ed-that’s enough).

The investigation took nine years and involved forgers, middlemen and galleries.

The furniture fraud hoodwinked the Palace of Versailles and became a cause célèbre in France

Police determined that one of the two chairs acquired by Versailles in 2009 had made its way to Kraemer via Dillée, who happened to be Pallot’s mate.

Dillée and others were regarded as having been duped themselves by the scammers and he was not accused of any wrongdoing. We don’t suggest otherwise.

On June 11, the Pontoise Criminal Court, near Versailles, found Pallot and Desnoues guilty on charges of fraud and money laundering.

Pallot was sentenced to four months in prison (already served) and fined €200,000. Desnoues received a €100,000 fine and a suspended sentence

The heaviest fine – €700,000 – was requested for Galerie Kraemer, which had sold four of the fake chairs. However, the court acquitted both the gallery and its director, Laurent Kraemer, of all charges.

Since moving to Melbourne, Dillée has established a consultancy, Dillée Art Consultants, and paints landscape.

Real estate rift is the talk of the town

A different kind of split has been the talk of the eastern suburbs in recent weeks.

No, it’s not a marriage bust-up – this one is strictly professional, but it’s no less vicious.

Among prestige real estate circles, all anybody seems to be gossiping about is buyers’ agents-turned-reality stars Simon Cohen and Tammy Soglanich going their separate ways.

The pair worked together at Cohen Handler, which humbly bills itself as ‘Australia’s leading property buyers’ agency’, for seven years – but abruptly cut ties in the middle of last year.

Among prestige real estate circles, all anybody seems to be talking about is buyers’ agents-turned-reality stars Simon Cohen (left) and Tammy Soglanich (right) going their separate ways

Soglanich went off to launch a rival business, Aurum Advisory, catering to Sydney’s well-heeled east.

I’m told the parting was anything but amicable, with Cohen irked that certain clients had chosen to follow Soglanich to her new firm.

While some real estate spies insist ‘lawyers are involved’, there are no matters listed in civil court, so it’s safe to assume things aren’t that serious.

I contacted Soglanich for comment on Wednesday and she told me she was ‘just stepping into a meeting – I’ll call back in 45 minutes!’

And that was the last I heard from her.

The pair worked together at buyers’ agency Cohen Handler for seven years. Since starting her own agency, there have been whispers of a feud between the student and the master

The way some people tell the story, it’s a simple case of the student surpassing the master. Soglanich got her start in the property industry as Cohen’s assistant, after all.

And it was her association with Cohen Handler that meant she could add ‘reality TV star’ to her résumé when the agency – and Cohen – had a starring role in the Kyle Sandilands-developed Amazon Prime Video series Luxe Listings Sydney.

Meanwhile, the mother-of-one has turned out to be every bit the eastern suburbs cliché since her rise to fame and fortune.

She married lower north shore real estate agent James Bennett, became a Vogue Bride and now lives in a $7.2million home in Bellevue Hill.

Oh, and she drives a Range Rover. Of course.

Terry’s solo summer

It’s a yacht girl summer for the well-heeled Aussies living it up in Europe.

Rugby league WAG Terry Biviano was serving serious chest appeal aboard a superyacht alongside accountant-to-the-stars Anthony Bell his new bride Annika, as well as Richard Wilkins and his latest squeeze, makeup artist Mia Hawkswell.

Biv’s husband Anthony ‘Mini’ Minichiello, affectionately remembered as ‘The Count’, because he looks like the Sesame Street character, was nowhere to be seen as the couples sipped on sundowners on the aft deck.

Perhaps he was lending a helping hand to builders working on the endless renovation of his harbourside mansion in Vaucluse. The couple’s long-awaited ‘dream home’ has been a work-in-progress for almost a decade and is still nowhere near complete.

NRL WAG Terry Biviano (left, with Annika Bell) is enjoying a yacht girl summer in Europe

Biv’s husband Anthony Minichiello, affectionately known as ‘The Count’, because he looks like the Sesame Street character, was nowhere to be seen in photos from the yacht excursion

Minichiello, 45, has previously expressed annoyance at the constant speculation over why the project is moving at such a glacial pace and is known to bristle when asked when he and his wife are moving in.

He told us in late 2023 it was no one’s business but his own how long it takes, but did say he expected to be settling in ‘later this year’.

‘If I want to take eight years to build a house, then I will,’ he added.

The renovation continues.