A high-flying Sydney couple who had their mansion raided by organised crime detectives have told friends their lavish lifestyle has been bankrolled by family striking it rich in the Texas oilfields.
Heavily armed officers from NSW Police’s anti-gang task force executed a no-knock warrant on Garrett and Stephanie Jandegian’s multi-storey property in Sydney‘s affluent Bellevue Hill on February 6 – breaking down the door of the couple’s home.
The raid was conducted as part of Strike Force Candice, a joint investigation between the Organised Crime Squad and the NSW Crime Commission, and was reportedly due to the couple’s alleged affiliations with others, who are being pursued as part of a broader investigation.
Police seized a mobile phone and documentation during the February raid, a spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia.
No arrests or charges have been laid against the Jandegians, and there is no suggestion that they are the primary targets of the task force. It is not suggested otherwise, or that Stephanie or Garrett Jandegian committed any wrongdoing.
The raids are the talk of the city’s eastern suburbs social set and media circles which have often enviously looked on at the couple’s wealthy lifestyle.
Indeed, one news executive at Channel Nine once denied Mrs Jandegian, a well regarded producer, a pay rise due to her expensive car.
Despite the intense spotlight, the couple on Thursday appeared unfazed and were seen jewellery shopping in Sydney’s Haymarket before dining at seafood restaurant on Sussex Street.
Stephanie and Garrett Jandegian were seen shopping in Sydney’s Haymarket on Thursday
The couple are the talk of the Sydney’s eastern suburbs social set and media circles following news of a recent police raid. It’s not suggested that Stephanie or Garrett Jandegian committed any wrongdoing
The couple dined at a seafood restaurant on Sussex Street after a spot of jewellery shopping
Garrett Jandegian appeared lost in thought as he shopped for jewellery with his wife Stephanie
Her husband Mr Jandegian, originally from San Francisco, is an entrepreneur who co-founded the drinks brand Aqualove, an alkaline water range, in 2017, and is a director of antigen test and personal protective equipment supplier Pharma Soul.
Mr Jandegian left the Aqualove business three years ago after selling his stake in the company.
A source close to the couple said the family has continued to live a high-flying lifestyle, with Mr Jandegian attributing their attributing their ongoing wealth to his family’s luck in ‘striking oil’ in Texas.
Mrs Jandegian is a former dancer who competed on Network Ten’s hit reality show So You Think You Can Dance in 2008.
She then went on to forge a career as broadcast journalist at Channel Nine, including a stint as the Sydney bureau chief of Channel 9’s A Current Affair program, where she worked alongside her award-winning producer sister, Lauren Golman.
The mother-of-two’s upper crust lifestyle often set her apart from colleagues plying their trade at the network.
Not only did Mrs Jandegian’s opulent eastern suburbs way of life appear to stand in stark contrast to those of the western suburbs battlers championed by A Current Affair, it also had a tendency to overshadow the station’s highest paid stars.
Sources said that one executive once told Mrs Jandegian her that it ‘wouldn’t sit well’ with colleagues to grant her a pay rise, because her car was more expensive than anyone else’s on the network’s lot – including that of the show’s highly paid then-host Tracey Grimshaw.
Mrs Jandegian is a former dancer who later became a broadcast journalist, which included a stint as the Sydney bureau chief of Channel 9’s A Current Affair program
Garrett and Stephanie Jandegian say their lavish lifestyle is being bankrolled by family after they struck it rich in the Texan oilfields
The couple’s Bellevue Hill mansion was raided by police in February. Daily Mail Australia does not suggest that either Stephanie or Garrett Jandegian committed any wrongdoing
The couple are known for throwing their young children lavish birthday parties
The couple appeared unfazed as they shopped, dined and wandered around the Sydney CBD on Thursday
That decision was ultimately overturned after Nine top brass were made aware of the bizarre rationale, and Mrs Jandegian was awarded a three per cent pay hike.
Not that she appeared to need it, as she and her husband became firm fixtures in the city’s society circles.
The millennial couple bought a two-storey home in the elite Sydney eastern suburb of Bellevue Hill that had been on the market with a $27million price tag in 2022.
After settlement, the couple submitted a development application for $7 million worth of alterations and additions.
Some 12 months later, they purchased a nearby four-bedroom Federation-style home for $15.1 million.
They have previously owned property in the ultra-wealthy enclave of Vaucluse and last year dropped $4.2million on an apartment in the redeveloped Sirius building on Sydney Harbour.
The former housing commission block, a divisive brutalist-style building metres from the Sydney Harbour Bridge and with sweeping views of the Opera House, has been transformed into luxury residences.
Meanwhile, their country-style mansion with five bedrooms, four bathrooms, a pool and tennis court was formerly owned by ex-ASX chief Dominic Stevens.
Jandegian’s upper crust lifestyle has often set her apart while plying her trade in journalism
Garrett Jandegian with Aqualove co-founder Ricky Herbert and the product that made them wealthy
Stephanie with her A Current Affair TV journalist sister Lauren Golman (centre) and mother Vicky
The couple, who met in a hotel pool bar in the US in the late 2000s, regularly share photos of their lavish lifestyle on social media.
That includes elaborate birthday and milestone parties they throw for their two children.
The themed parties are understood to cost between $20,000 and $50,000.
In recent years the couple have made multiple trips to Japan visiting DisneyLand and a ski resort, visited Kokomo private island in Fiji, holidays to Queensland and had a luxury staycation at a Sydney hotel.
Their 2014 wedding held at The Four Seasons in Sydney’s CBD was rumoured to cost upwards of $1 million dollars with their flowers alone costing $80,000.
On Thursday, bodyguards in blacked-out SUVs sat outside their sprawling mansion as the couple came and went in their Bentley and Porsche vehicles.
Mrs Jandegian’s father, Serge Golman, is the general manager of construction company Austral Interiors.
Her mother Vicky, meanwhile, works for a high-end jeweler and can be seen driving around Vaucluse in her Rolls Royce SUV.
Mrs Jandegian studied journalism at the University of Technology, Sydney, while employed at A Current Affair opened a cafe and wine bar in Bondi Junction with her husband-to-be, Lady J Cafe and Bar.
As for her sister Lauren, she made headlines for her own just two years ago after tying the night in a ritzy Tuscan-themed wedding featuring a designer gown by Leah Da Glória, a seven-tier cake and hundreds of well-heeled guests.
