Controversial broadcaster and former senator Derryn Hinch has called Geoffrey Edelsten a criminal just a day after he was found dead in his Melbourne apartment.
He became, by his own description, a “white knight” of the Sydney Swans in 1985 as they faced dire financial pressure amid concerns they wouldn’t survive.
He spent time in jail after being found guilty in 1990 of soliciting a well known hit-man, Christopher Dale Flannery, to assault a former patient.
Edelsten claimed bankruptcy in both Australia and the United States in 2014, citing a number of bad business deals including “splurging” millions on ghetto estates going cheap during the US mortgage crisis.
Even when his controversial career seemed to crash and burn, Edelsten always seemed to find a way back.
A colourful fixture of Melbourne’s social scene, his unconventional lifestyle demanded attention. He owned mansions, helicopters and a fleet of expensive cars with licence plates emblazoned with “macho”, “spunky” and “sexy”.