Family have $50m in property frozen as part of missing super scandal

The family of a wealthy Melbourne entrepreneur have had a near $50 million portfolio of properties frozen by a court as part of a missing superannuation scandal.

Liquidators to the Shield Master Fund are suing Robert Filippini – the son of Christmas lights fanatics Tony and Matilda Filippini – alleging Robert, his wife Dimitra and their children Antonio and Matilda received many millions from the collapsed superannuation fund.

The liquidators allege Robert received $158 million of the fund’s money to build property projects without proper contracts being in place or him being a licensed builder at the time.

About $108 million of that money was then transferred by Robert into various bank accounts held by Dimitra and their children, in 2023 and 2024, liquidators allege.

Earlier this year, the Federal Court slapped freezing orders over Robert and Dimitra Filippini’s assets up to the value of $158 million as the liquidators prepare to argue the money should be repaid because it was improperly transferred out of the fund.

The family is now appealing the freezing orders arguing they have been inappropriately applied by the court.

The Shield Master Fund collapsed amid an investigation by the corporate watchdog into allegations the fund had been mismanaged and had spent large sums of people’s superannuation savings on inappropriate investments and on large payments to promoters of the fund.

At the time of its collapse, Shield had nearly 6000 clients who had together moved $500 million of their superannuation into the fund.

There is no suggestion that Dimitra Filippini or the couple’s children had any involvement in the management of the fund, just that they received money from Robert Filippini, who in turn had been paid large sums by the fund’s operator, Paul Chiodo. This included large sums of investor money being transferred to Robert Filippini for a no-budget renovation of Chiodo’s own $10 million inner-city pad.

The freezing orders allow the court to be assured that the assets of the Filippinis are preserved while the case is before the courts. If the liquidators are unsuccessful in their case, the freezing orders will be lifted and the Filippinis will have the right to sell any of the properties.

The freezing orders do not apply to the home of Tony and Matilde Filippini that was once strung with more than 100,000 Christmas lights each year. There is no suggestion Tony and Matilde were involved in their son’s legal issues.

Instead, the orders cover a large portfolio of family property that includes a $15 million apartment in inner-city Melbourne and a newly built five-storey home in Toorak with a rooftop pool and a basement gymnasium estimated to be worth more than $10 million.

The family’s portfolio also includes several shops in busy retail strips around the city which are also subject to the freezing orders.

Fifteen vehicles belonging to family members – including four Lamborghinis, two Ferraris, a Maserati and a Jaguar – are also frozen by the court orders.

The family’s appeal comes after Robert Filippini unsuccessfully asked the court to stay the case brought against him and his family by liquidators, telling the court that he expected to be charged with criminal offences as part of the corporate watchdog’s investigation into the collapse of the fund.

Despite that claim, Robert Filippini is not currently subject to any formal action by the corporate watchdog relating to the Shield Master Fund. Nor are any members of his family.

Robert Filippini has also long maintained he has been unfairly targeted by the liquidators and the corporate watchdog, insisting that the money he received was for legitimate building projects, and the paperwork delays were caused by the fund and not by him.

He also attempted to save the fund via a rescue package, known as a deed of company arrangement, that was rejected by creditors and administrators.

Robert Filippini also told the court that he made the transfers into his family member’s bank accounts without consulting them first.

Dimitra Filippini and her children left Australia on a holiday in May 2025 and had told the court they would return in July, but are now not expected to return until May 2026. Robert has remained in Australia.

The court has heard the family transferred $7.7 million from their Australian bank accounts into overseas bank accounts between January and July this year.

The family’s appeal will be heard early next year.

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