Thrice-bankrupted property spruiker Dudley Quinlivan’s Southport mansion abode sells for $9.5 million

The Southport, Queensland riverfront home of the thrice-bankrupted property marketing spruiker Dudley Quinlivan sold for $9.5 million at Ray White auction last night.

It’s the second-highest paid on the Gold Coast for three years – and just weeks after former motor vehicle dealer John Zupp paid $12.7 million for a Sanctuary Cove home.

The five-bedroom Quinlivan mansion comes with a cinema, games room, internal lift, large wine cellar, seven-car basement parking and even a panic room.

The 3,366-square-metre Winchester Street property was auctioned for Westpac Bank by receivers through Michael Willems in conjunction with Ray White Prestige Gold Coast agent Robert Graham.

There were 18 people registered to bid at the auction with five bidders, according to the Gold Coast Bulletin report.

The two-level house was owned through Sandtrend Pty Ltd, an entity controlled by Quinlivan's wife Jo.

The Quinlivans left the house several weeks ago. The block cost $2.35 million in 2000.

Quinlivan was most recently bankrupted in September 2011 after failing to pay a $49 million debt to the struggling mortgage fund Equititrust, also based on the Gold Coast.

The money had been lent to build a housing development at Ipswich, west of Brisbane.

Quinlivan shot to national attention when accused in Queensland Parliament as being involved in the late 1990s property marketeering scam where fly-in, fly-out interstaters were lured into paying out of line prices for Queensland properties.

Property consumer advocate Neil Jenman has described Dudley Quinlivan as one of Australia's most infamous real estate characters.

“During the 1990s and early 2000s, Quinlivan was deeply involved in the notorious Queensland two-tier marketing rackets,” Jenman’s website notes.

Last August  Quinlivan was unsuccessful in applying to the High Court of Australia to lower his five-year company directorship disqualification.