Businessman John Kinghorn lists Mosman mansion as he battles tax fraud charges

Millionaire businessman and philanthropist John Kinghorn is selling his long-held Mosman mansion with $16 million hopes.

The high-end listing comes as the founder of RAMS Home Loan seeks to clear his name after he was charged with defrauding the Australian Tax Office of $30 million.

Mr Kinghorn has pleaded not guilty to Australian Federal Police allegations that he avoided paying more than $30 million in tax obligations by concealing he beneficially owned and controlled two companies registered in a tax haven in the Channel Islands.

Two days after a mention of the matter in the District Court in which the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions asked for more time to put together evidence against Mr Kinghorn, an exclusive preview of the waterfront residence was launched by Belle Property Mosman’s Tim Foote and Matthew Smythe.

Mr Kinghorn and his wife Jill are said to be “downsizing” from the five-bedroom home they bought in 1982 for $1.3 million.

The four-bedroom property was built in 1978 and is set over four levels with formal and informal living areas, separate office, an internal lift, bar room, cellar, swimming pool, boat house, jetty and a pontoon.

It was listed in 2011 with $9 million hopes given reports they planned to spend more time at their Bilgola beachfront house, but the family home was later withdrawn from the market and instead renovated in 2013. The Bilgola beachfront house was sold in 2013 for $5.35 million.

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The Kinghorns, whose only property interest in their name is the Mosman family home, founded the Kinghorn Foundation in 2006 as a charitable foundation to back medical research and public policy causes.

If he is found guilty the 76year-old businessman faces a maximum of 10 years in jail.

According to a Fairfax Media report late last year, the alleged fraud follows an eight-year investigation by the Serious Financial Crime Taskforce aided by international agencies.

The charges date back to 1997 when it is alleged Mr Kinghorn falsely claimed he did not control an unlisted offshore company.

The other charge of dishonestly influencing the tax commissioner relates to a period between 2004 and 2007 when Mr Kinghorn allegedly concealed his control of two companies, Kalomo Corporation and Kalomo Pacific Leasing.

The two companies were established in Jersey in 1994 and deregistered in 2008.

In the late 1990s, Kalomo Pacific Leasing loaned $4 million to Rentworks, a leasing company at the time majority owned by Mr Kinghorn, it was revealed in a 2003 court case before the Industrial Relations Commission.

The matter is set to return to court on April 10.