Former NRL star Willie Mason accused of partying too hard, losing life savings

Willie Mason during his time with the Manly Sea Eagles in 2015. Photo / Getty Images

Former NRL and Representative star Willie Mason has been accused of contributing to the failure of an investment company, that led to the loss of his life savings.

Mason invested A$500,000 into a private firm, Fairchild Property Investments, run by John and Paul Hanna, in November 2014, after the sale of his Eastern Suburbs property.

Despite being initially highly profitable, the company has gone into voluntary administration and liquidation, and Mason has filed a lawsuit against the pair, seeking retribution for the money he invested and intended to retire with.

Mason is seeking just over $985,000 in the New South Wales Supreme Court.

The 40-year-old claims, in court documents, he was the victim of deceptive conduct, saying he was promised the sum back in full along with 15 per cent interest each year in an agreement which has not happened.

Mason also claims he was misled on matters regarding the company's financial success, how safe his money was and whether he would be compensated for any losses.

However, the Hannas filed a response to Mason's lawsuit on July 23, accusing him of "aiding and abetting" the ongoing "hard partying" that led to the company's demise.

They say at the start of Mason's involvement the company was highly profitable, however that changed. They add Mason chose to invest after personal research, and was not "induced" by false promises.

"This regular partying which was aided and abetted by [Mason] caused [John Hanna] in his capacity as the sole director of Fairchild to not properly manage the company," the response says.

The Hannas say there was a close relationship between Mason and John between 2014 and 2018 where they "partied a lot".

"This resulted in a mismanagement of Fairchild which was highly profitable at the time [Mason] advanced the funds to being highly unprofitable at the time Fairchild went into liquidation."

The Hannas also allege Mason failed to show a reasonable amount of care before investing.

While Fairchild have returned $234,059.87 to Mason in a number of payments, they admit they have not paid him the full amount back.