Peter Arvanitis and his wife, Areti, have again come in for media scrutiny after The Age revealed the couple had listed their Toorak home for an off-market sale and left for Athens before Christmas after receiving a travel exemption from the Department of Home Affairs to attend to ‘essential business'.
Mr Arvanitis – a founder and former director of listed aged care provider Estia – has a 50% share in Heritage Care alongside business partner Tony Antonopoulos which has 10 aged care homes across Melbourne including Epping Gardens where 38 residents died during Victoria’s second coronavirus wave in July and August last year.
The home is currently being investigated by the coroner and is also the subject of a class action over the COVID deaths led by Carbone Lawyers.
Mr Arvanitis – who resigned as a director of Heritage Care in September 2020 – told The Sunday Age he did not know when he would return to Australia.
“[I am] unsure of my return date, depending on business progress here and of course requirements of international travellers returning home. The plan is to be home sooner rather than later,” he said.
He added that the sale of the mansion – which is in the name of his wife who is known for driving a Maserati – would only take place for a “significant premium”.
“If I was to sell, I have several properties in Toorak and interstate I could move into. My history in real estate demonstrates this as I have sold over 60 properties in the last five years.”
