Joe Gutnick

After almost having been ruined by the 1987 stock market crash, Rabbi Gutnick was advised by Rabbi Menachem Schneerson to go back to the Australian desert and search for “gold and diamonds”. He was responsible for overseeing the discovery of the Plutonic gold deposit, as well as the discovery, development and operation of the Bronzewing and Jundee gold mines in Australia. Hence the nickname “Diamond Joe”.

Now the Herald reports that the former Melbourne Football Club president has declared himself bankrupt, with debts totalling more than $275 million, after a deal with one of India’s biggest fertiliser groups turned sour.

Rabbi Joseph Gutnick’s statement of affairs, obtained by Fairfax Media, shows he owes his creditors $275 million, and has no other assets except for $16,087 in savings and a worthless portfolio of shareholdings.

The $275 million collapse ranks him alongside the biggest bankruptcies in Australian history, although he still lags behind the $600 million owed by Alan Bond when his empire crumbled.

Rabbi Joseph Gutnick declared himself bankrupt last Friday, ahead of a court hearing on Monday to hear a petition by his former business partner Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative (IFFCO), which was seeking to have him declared bankrupt over a $54 million debt.

Mr Gutnick claims to have many overseas creditors including $33 million to one “N Sternberg” of New York and a further $13.3 million to “Machne Israel” of New York according to Fairfax Media.

In 2010, Gutnick returned to the BRW Rich List with estimated wealth of $300 million, after an absence of more than 10 years. At the time he owned a string of small mining companies that were exploring for everything from diamonds and gold to uranium and phosphate. He was still among Australia’s 200 richest people in 2014, when BRW estimated his wealth to be more than $250 million.

J Wire has attempted to contact Mr Gutnick for a statement but has so far been unsuccessful.