For years, Trelease Associates was one of Sydney‘s glitziest buyers’ agencies, attracting deep-pocketed clients, late-night parties and whispers it operated more like an exclusive social club than a real estate business.
But behind the polished façade, the Double Bay outfit was unravelling.
The once high-flying agency has now collapsed into voluntary liquidation, with its director Daniel Trelease claiming in court that the downfall stemmed from an alleged betrayal by the woman he considered his closest confidante.
ASIC records show Trelease Associates Property Management (TAPM) and its trustee company, Daniel Trelease Pty Ltd, owe almost $2.6million to unsecured creditors.
At the centre of the legal battle is Trelease’s former executive manager, chief financial officer and personal assistant, Jacqueline Clow (née Reidy), who is accused in Supreme Court proceedings of secretly siphoning more than $675,000 from the business and Trelease personally.
Those allegations were never tested in court after Clow died suddenly in March last year, with court documents alleging the claimed losses ultimately helped bring the once-successful eastern suburbs agency to its knees.
Friends of Clow, a former socialite, revealed their shock to me last week over the claims that she siphoned money from Trelease’s business. Some are convinced there is more to the story.
Former staff have since lifted the lid on what they describe as a ‘boys’ club’ culture inside the former agency’s New South Head Road office.
According to a source, Daniel Trelease would spend weekends away with Jacqueline Clow and her partner William Clark at their home in Kiama. He would allegedly return to the office and, with a ‘wink’, allude to the wild partying that had gone on. (Trelease and Clow are pictured)
The once high-flying agency has now collapsed into voluntary liquidation
Former staff have since lifted the lid on what they describe as a ‘boys’ club’ culture inside the former agency’s office
One former employee claimed the office was rife with crude banter that wouldn’t fly in most workplaces.
‘Some of the vulgarity that went on in that place was unbelievable,’ the source alleged.
The former staff member claimed the culture filtered down from the top, describing director Trelease’s leadership style as fostering an environment where boundaries were routinely blurred.
Text messages seen by the Daily Mail, sent by Trelease to staff late at night, appear to show a pattern of bawdy and, at times, erratic communication with subordinates.
While the messages suggest a permissive workplace culture, they were not harassing in nature, nor is there any suggestion they were unwelcome.
In the texts, Trelease allegedly boasted of partying with the likes of John Travolta and One Direction, as well as ‘the royal daughters’ and even a cousin of ‘Kenny Travitz’, which presumably referred to Lenny Kravitz.
One message alluded to witnessing an A-lister perform a lewd act with a tennis ball, while another spun a wild yarn of being on a $100million yacht when the captain accidentally ‘fell off a cliff and died’ and they had to ‘chopper in a new skipper’.
Other texts showed Trelease recounting colourful details of his love life while the recipient remarked: ‘Dear god. My ears are too innocent for this… Where do you meet these people?’
According to the source, Trelease would often spend weekends away with Ms Clow and her younger partner, builder William Clark, at their home in Kiama on the NSW South Coast.
An employee said the office was rife with crude banter that wouldn’t fly in most workplaces. Trelease (right) would allegedly send colourful texts about his partying and love life
Trelease launched Supreme Court proceedings against Clow in 2024, accusing the woman he once entrusted with virtually every aspect of his business of a staggering financial betrayal
He would allegedly return to the office and, with a ‘wink’, allude to the wild partying that had gone on.
‘He never said what he meant but I understood the implication,’ the source claimed.
The extraordinary saga began in early 2024 when Trelease launched Supreme Court proceedings against Clow, accusing the woman he had once entrusted with virtually every aspect of his business of a staggering financial betrayal.
Clow, who had worked with Trelease for more than six years before resigning in January 2024, is alleged to have had exclusive access to both the company’s accounts and Trelease’s personal online banking.
According to his statement of claim, Clow changed banking passwords and repeatedly refused to hand them over despite his requests.
The allegations shocked many who knew Clow, whose name had long been associated with Sydney’s hospitality scene.
Before joining Trelease Associates, the UK-born executive was one half of one of the city’s best-known hospitality couples through her marriage to Irish publican Donnacha Reidy, the former owner of venues including Kitty O’Shea’s, Republic Bar, Trinity Bar and the Fox and Lion Hotel.
The pair were regular fixtures on Sydney’s racing and social circuit throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s before their marriage ended and Reidy relocated to Western Australia with the couple’s two daughters.
Clow later settled on the NSW South Coast with her younger partner, William Clark, in what friends described as a fresh start away from Sydney.
‘She lost touch with a lot of her old friendship group after moving south with Will,’ one longtime friend told the Daily Mail last week.
‘These allegations are shocking and completely out of character. Everyone who knew Jacquie has been left asking what really happened.’
The legal battle took a devastating turn when Clow died in March 2025, aged 58, just months after proceedings were filed against her. As a result, the allegations against her were never tested in court.
In a heartbreaking online tribute, Clark described Clow as his ‘beautiful lady’ and his ‘Queen Bee’.
‘You left me too early… I miss your smile and face every day,’ he wrote.
Sources say Clark has since become estranged from Clow’s two daughters following her funeral.
When administrators were appointed, Trelease told the liquidator he had placed ‘complete trust and confidence’ in Clow before later concluding she had allegedly misappropriated substantial sums from the business.
The mother-of-two was once a mover and shaker among Sydney’s well-heeled east. She died suddenly on March 26, 2025
Her partner Will Clark shared an online tribute following her passing: ‘You left me too early… I miss your smile and face every day’
Daniel Trelease (right) alleges his former friend and longtime personal assistant, the late Jacqueline Clow (left), siphoned about $675,041 from the company, causing it to fail
The administrator’s report notes that Clow’s death meant those allegations could not be further investigated through legal proceedings.
ASIC records show Trelease Associates Property Management and its trustee company owed creditors almost $2.6million when they entered liquidation, including close to $85,000 to the Australian Taxation Office.
Trelease blamed the collapse on what he described as ‘recently found out fraud’, ‘theft and malfeasance’, as well as his own ‘poor management and oversight’.
The liquidator, however, identified a raft of other contributing factors, including declining revenue, chronic cash flow problems, undercapitalisation, mounting tax debts and potentially insolvent trading dating back to July 2020.
Administrator Jamieson Louttit concluded the business had accumulated unsustainable debt as the property market slowed, leaving it unable to meet its obligations to creditors.
After months of rumours that Trelease had vanished from Sydney following the collapse of his business, former colleagues say he quietly resurfaced in the city’s eastern suburbs.
Until last week, he was working at a real estate agency in Rose Bay.
The agency’s website described him as the former owner of a leading eastern suburbs buyers’ agency, saying he had built a reputation for ‘client satisfaction, confidentiality and professionalism’.
However, his profile has since been removed from the company’s team page.
