A bitter legal dispute between Sydney property developer Mario Evangelo and his former wife, Janelle, has ended without a public hearing after a police application for an apprehended violence order was withdrawn and dismissed.
The proceedings had threatened to expose details of one of the construction sector’s most extraordinary marital breakdowns. Earlier court documents included claims by Mr Evangelo that his estranged wife had attempted to poison him through meals prepared at home.
However, the police application brought on Mr Evangelo’s behalf has now been withdrawn and dismissed, bringing the matter to an end before it could be examined in open court.
The allegations contained in the documents have not been tested or proven in court. The application was withdrawn, and Ms Evangelo has not been charged with any criminal offence connected to the claims.
According to the documents, Mr Evangelo, chief executive of the Panthera property empire, told police he had suffered prolonged bouts of illness after eating food prepared by his then-wife.
He alleged that Ms Evangelo prepared separate meals for him and told him not to give any of the food to their children.
The allegations escalated in February 2023. The documents state that Mr Evangelo became seriously ill, developing symptoms including jaundice, and that his doctor directed him to attend hospital.
Doctors at St George Hospital reportedly examined him for suspected liver damage before, according to the documents, he “stopped breathing and had to be resuscitated” by medical staff.
Mario Evangelo and then wife Janelle attend the 2023 Women in Business Awards, before he alleged in court documents that she had poisoned his food
The former couple now live apart, with Ms Evangelo residing in their reported $9.5million apartment at Crown Towers
Mr Evangelo also claimed that his health improved whenever he travelled overseas or left Australia for work.
The pair began their relationship in the early 1990s before marrying and later divorcing twice over the years.
They are now separated, with Ms Evangelo living in the couple’s reported $9.5million Crown Towers apartment.
The court documents contained allegations extending beyond Mr Evangelo’s claims about his health.
According to police documents, first reported by The Daily Telegraph, Mr Evangelo claimed Ms Evangelo approached a third party in September 2025 and sought to hire a bikie to attack him.
The documents allege she asked: “Can you find someone to hurt Mario? I am willing to pay any price. I don’t have any other choice.”
She allegedly followed up by asking: “Isn’t Forest Inn Hotel a hangout for the bikies?”
Ms Evangelo, who previously led her own foundation focused on women’s empowerment, has not been charged with a criminal offence.
Mr Evangelo shared this Facebook selfie with psychic Melanie Obeid, whom he called his “Queen”. Ms Obeid told the Daily Mail she was gay and urged readers not to “read too much into” her birthday dinner
Mario Evangelo is chief executive of the $300million Panthera property empire
While the legal development brings an abrupt end to the AVO proceedings, a separate twist remains decidedly unresolved.
The Daily Mail revealed in May that Mr Evangelo had been consulting married psychic Melanie Obeid, who also has links to his colourful criminal lawyer Zali Burrows.
In a series of Facebook posts, Mr Evangelo described Ms Obeid as his ‘Queen’ and ‘Amore’ – Italian for ‘love’ – while sharing photographs of the pair together at several Sydney fine-dining establishments.
One image was captioned: ‘Happy birthday, my Queen. Looking forward to dessert.’
However, Ms Obeid told the Daily Mail at the time that she remained married to her wife, Tess, and rejected any suggestion the posts indicated a romantic relationship with Mr Evangelo.
‘I’m married to Tess. I am gay,’ she said.
‘I wouldn’t read too much into that [the Facebook posts].’
The Daily Mail accepts that Mr Evangelo and Ms Obeid are good friends, that Ms Obeid is in a committed relationship with her wife and does not suggest otherwise.
Mr Evangelo’s lawyer Zali Burrows (pictured outside Downing Centre Local Court) is a colourful character within the legal fraternity, having represented Mark Latham and Bruce Lehrmann
It seems Ms Burrows once sought Melanie Obeid for an ‘extremely accurate’ psychic reading
During happier times, the Evangelos appeared every inch the glamorous power couple.
In 2023, they hosted high-profile events together, including the Gold Coast Women in Business Awards, smiling for photographs while, according to the timeline outlined in court documents, Mr Evangelo allegedly believed his wife’s cooking was making him sick.
Mr Evangelo launched Panthera in 2000, building the construction outfit into a reported $300million property empire responsible for more than $3billion worth of developments across Australia and New Zealand.
But luxury property has not been without its own setbacks.
Last year, one of the developer’s entities, Panthera Mermaid, collapsed, triggering the sale of the high-profile Mermaid Waters shopping centre on the Gold Coast and marking a rare stumble for the once fast-expanding operation.