EXCLUSIVE
The founder of an ASX-listed financial technology company who had a messy love affair with a female employee lost his ‘wife, house, and job’ as a result of the scandal, a court has heard.
Former Wisr chief executive Anthony Nantes, 45, was sentenced at Waverley Local Court in Sydney’s eastern suburbs on Monday after pleading guilty to stalking his mistress, 32, in Sydney between December 2022 and March 2023.
The pair met at work and were in a secret relationship for two-and-a-half years before she threatened to tell his wife when things turned sour.
Nantes subsequently bombarded her with messages – including more than 50 emails on one day- and turned up at her house, where he refused to leave, court documents said.
Nantes bowed his head in court on Monday morning as his lawyer applied for the high-flying start-up founder’s matter to be dealt with under mental health provisions.
Anthony Nantes was accompanied to court by his estranged wife Cassi (above)
Mr Nantes’s estranged wife Cassi, father, and two male friends sat nearby to show their support.
But Magistrate Jacqueline Milledge was not impressed with the mental health application, which was based on a psychiatric report showing he suffered panic disorder and substance abuse issues.
‘Really?,’ she said, visibly taken aback by the application. ‘This is just an awful incident.’
Referring to the report, the lawyer said Nantes had told the psychologist that he acted the way he did because the female staffer had sent him texts demanding money.
Ms Milledge asked whether the lawyer could provide the messages cited, but when he said he could not, she questioned why they were being noted as a sentencing consideration.
‘At this stage, he’s just saying it happened, but there is no proof of it. So I won’t take it into consideration,’ she said.
The lawyer responded: ‘Really the submission is that the behaviour, whist in anyway not excused, the written submissions explain what happened and how that impacted his mental health.’
Ms Milledge said: ‘He got himself into a terrible, terrible mess. Why wouldn’t he feel that way?’
The former high-flying start-up founder was released without a conviction from Waverley Local Court – with a magistrate finding he had got himself into a ‘terrible mess’
However, the lawyer continued to push that his mental health should be taken into consideration given ‘the loss of his marriage, house, job – things out of his control’.
But Ms Milledge disagreed, retorting:’ What do you mean out of his control? He brought it on himself. They [those things] are collateral damage.’
The court heard Nantes had a history of illicit drug use, including cocaine, MDMA, cannabis, as well as the use of Benzodiazepines and alcohol to get to sleep.
In the report, it was noted Nantes could not remember an incident when he followed the staffer up the street after rocking up at her home, which he believes could have been due to the use of his prescription medication.
The court heard Nantes also spent three weeks in a rehabilitation centre after his arrest and has not been taking drugs or drinking alcohol since his release (which was one of his bail conditions).
Ms Milledge eventually objected the mental health application, arguing Nantes mental health impairments did not seem to be a cause, but rather a product, of his actions.
She also noted that it was a ‘very, very scant’ proposed treatment plan that ‘made no mention of his use of substances’.
‘He said that she was the one who initiated it, but Mr Nantes was highly functioning when the affair was initiated. He was able to make conscious decisions,’ she said.
The court heard Cassi and Nantes have since separated
Nantes was supported in court by his father and friend (pictured)
‘He had used cannabis, used cocaine every few weeks. He took benzodiazepines to help him manage anxiety. I think that’s his problem. I refuse to deal with him under section 14.’
However, Ms Milledge was sympathetic to the sad situation Nantes had found himself in and commended him for his efforts to get his life back on track.
She sentenced him to a six month good behaviour bond with no conviction recorded.
‘I don’t sit here as somebody who has emerged from saintly sphere and judge you for having some affair. That’s not what I’m here to do,’ she said.
‘It was a poor decision by you that has brought about catastrophic consequences. But we are all human and make mistakes. I certainly have. [But] how we handle them is a measure of us.
‘I don’t know what the future holds for you and your family, but I hope it works out for you. You’re someone who made a mistake and shouldn’t have to pay for that for the rest of your life. You have certainly paid a severe price for what happened.
‘You are doing everything to fix your life, I see it as atonement, and I hope others see it like that as well.’
After the hearing concluded, Nantes could be seen hugging his supporters in relief.
He declined to comment outside court.
Nantes and Cassi, who share three children, are pictured during happier times
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