Rinehart, Meghan and missing millions: Ralph & Russo’s fall from grace

At the 2019 Melbourne Cup, amid outcry in the lead-up over the treatment of racehorses (and a minor fracas about the scourge of midriffs in the exclusive Birdcage enclosure), billionaire mining magnate and Flemington regular Gina Rinehart took up position trackside in the Lexus marquee.

On that day, Rinehart was wearing a red-and-white floral dress by Ralph & Russo, the London-based luxury brand founded by two Australians, the once romantically-linked Tamara Ralph and Michael Russo. Founded in 2010, the label is arguably most famous for creating the $95,000 dress Meghan Markle wore in the official portrait announcing her engagement to Prince Harry in December 2017, as well as dressing celebrities from Angelina Jolie to Nicole Kidman.

But it’s Rinehart’s dress, or the relationship between Australia’s richest woman and the brand, that took on a new level of intrigue this week, as documents filed in the British High Court and obtained by The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age revealed the boss of Hancock Prospecting made two separate bids to buy the failed fashion house after it went into administration earlier this year.

The revelations, which reference a “close relationship” between Rinehart and Ralph, are contained within two separate documents in a case brought by the administrators of the business, who are suing Ralph over allegations she and Russo misused millions in company funds for personal expenses including luxury accommodation – nearly £20,000 at London’s Cadogan and Berkeley hotels – business class flights, pet care, baby furniture, rent on a London apartment, a Rolls Royce and even a COVID-19 test for Ralph’s mother. There are also claims the pair defrauded their employees’ superannuation fund.

Russo, who is currently said to be living in Dubai and is not presently a respondent to the lawsuit, is also accused of gambling hundreds of thousands at a London casino, based on ATM transaction records on the company accounts. He was dismissed from the company in October 2020 over allegations of “gross misconduct”, according to the court papers. In total, Russo is accused of misusing approximately £2.6 million ($4.82 million) while Ralph’s alleged tally stands at £195,000.

The administrators are also investigating the whereabouts of £60 million invested in Ralph & Russo by the owners of the La Perla lingerie brand in 2019; by the time the brand entered administration in March, the administrators claim there was less than £100,000 in the bank. Following La Perla’s investment in the business, Ralph was placed on a remuneration package of more than £500,000, more than half of which was in free clothes.

In a witness statement submitted to the court, administrator Paul Appleton said: “In short, the Company had serious financial problems and more people were inevitably going to lose their jobs but [Ralph] cared only about herself and her personal luxuries.