Nine years ago, Australian pop star Vanessa Amorosi suffered a shock that upended her life and destroyed her relationship with her family.
She had been living in California for three years pursuing her music career when, near the end of 2014, she was informed that she could no longer afford her home.
Although she earned “millions of dollars” every year in the 2000s, the family trusts that collected her income and controlled her assets couldn't make the mortgage repayments, she was told.
Details of the award-winning artist's personal problems were revealed in the Supreme Court of Victoria, where she was embroiled in a bitter property dispute with her mother Joyleen Robinson.
“I knew I would lose the property. “There was a lot of turmoil and I couldn't get an answer as to why,” she said in court in October.
“I asked her (Mrs Robinson) to show me where the money went… (She said) I spent it all.”
Details of the court case against Vanessa Amorosi's cleaning lady mother have been revealed as she accuses her mother of defrauding her fortune
The 42-year-old artist is suing Ms. Robinson over sole ownership of two properties she bought with her music earnings, but which are controlled by a trust that lists both women as co-owners.
Ms Robinson has sued, claiming one of the homes, an 8-acre property in Narre Warren where she has lived for 21 years, was bought for her.
The case hinges on the question of whether or not there was a “kitchen agreement” that allegedly took place in 2001.
When she testified, Ms. Robinson insisted that the two women agreed that the house was for her and that if Ms. Amorosi ever needed money, she would pay back the original purchase price of $650,000.
She said there was always only a verbal agreement to purchase the property, which was described as her “dream home” because “it was a mother and a daughter who trusted each other.”
Evidence presented to the court shows that she sold her previous home the same year that Ms. Amorosi's money problems came to the surface, after which $710,000 was used to pay off the California loan.
Ms Amorosi claims the conversation and agreement was fabricated around 2015 after an argument arose between the two.
The 42-year-old artist is suing Ms. Robinson over sole ownership of two properties she bought with her music earnings, but which are controlled by a trust that lists both women as co-owners
What happened behind the scenes of her meteoric rise from a schoolgirl performing at a Russian restaurant in Melbourne to an internationally acclaimed pop star has come under the scrutiny of judge Steven Moore, who must decide the outcome of the long-running feud.
Ms Amorosi was catapulted to stardom at 18 with her 1999 debut single “Have a Look”, which was backed up the following year with “Absolutely Everybody” – the song that earned her an invitation to the closing of the 2000 Sydney Olympics .
The court was told she earned about $860,000 the following year from “constant touring” around Australia and Europe.
As Ms. Amorosi's fame grew, she said, her mother quickly took control of her finances, claiming a series of trusts and companies were needed to protect her.
“Friends were enemies, husband was the enemy… she was supposed to be the only one there who had the right intentions and I believed it,” Ms Amorosi told the court through tears.
One of those trusts — Vanjoy, a fusion of their two first names — was used to purchase the $650,000 Narre-Warren home in 2001, and the entire family moved in.
As Ms. Amorosi's fame grew, she said, her mother quickly took control of her finances, claiming a series of trusts and companies were needed to protect her
Amorosi lived there with her mother, stepfather and siblings since 2001 before purchasing another home in Officer in 2005 and moving to the United States in 2011.
Over the next decade, the companies purchased a number of commercial and residential properties as a nest egg for the singer, which was later used as collateral for a $1.2 million loan to purchase a home in Bell Canyon, California served in 2012.
But two years later, money problems arose and the house was sold.
Ms Amorosi claimed that when she asked her mother where all her money had gone, a “war” broke out within her family as her siblings sided with their mother.
“There was a standoff and there was a lot of confusion,” she said.
She said she now believes Ms Robinson exploited her assets and was “very generous” with her money.
Ms Robinson, however, said she had always acted in her daughter's best interests and followed the advice of an accountant recommended to Ms Amorosi by her boss.
The award-winning artist has returned with new albums and tour dates in recent years
She told the court that she stopped managing her daughter's finances in 2011 when she moved to the United States and sold several properties at the request of her daughter's American business manager.
“Tony (the manager) told me I had to sell everything and then a few days later I spoke to Vanessa and she confirmed it,” she said.
“My daughter and I were best friends, there was never any worry about money… I loved her and still love her – that's the heartbreaking part.”
Ms Robinson began to cry as she told the court that her daughter had cut her out of her life around 2015 amid allegations of financial mismanagement.
“I thought it (the Narre Warren property) was mine, I've put a lot of money into this house over the years,” she said.
“Why would I do that if I didn’t think it was mine?”
By 2017, Ms. Amorosi had hired forensic accountants to examine the trusts' financial records before filing the lawsuit in the Supreme Court in early 2021.
In court papers she accused Ms Robinson of “outrageous behavior” by seizing control of her finances as a teenager.
Judge Moore is expected to issue his ruling in early 2024.