Campbelltown home of fugitive Agape cult leader Rocco Leo to be auctioned

It survived the end-of-the-world prediction made by its fugitive owner — and now the home of Agape Ministries doomsday cult leader Rocco Leo will go under the hammer at auction.

The 2258sq m property at 25 Hart St, Campbelltown, was opened for inspection to the public on Saturday as part of a court-ordered sale later this month.

It is expected to sell for more than $1.5 million as part of Supreme Court action designed to repay the doomsday cult’s creditors, including the Australian Taxation Office.

The Supreme Court heard last year that Agape Ministries unpaid debt was now in excess of $10 million.

Leo’s distressed wife Assunta Leo was at home on Saturday when the Sunday Mail attend the open house inspection at 10.30am. There was little interest with about 10 groups of people attending.

A real estate agent not linked to the sale, and who did not want to be named, said there would be significant interest in the property because of the land area, which is about four times the size of an average suburban block for the Campbelltown area.

The Sunday Mail was told Ms Leo, who became the registered owner of the property with Rocco Leo in 1998, did not want to talk to the media or about the sale.

“We’re told she has nothing to do with the (Agape) cult and like everyone else she is just cleaning up the consequences,’’ a representative linked to the sale said.

The Hart St property was unremarkable until it made national media in 2010, when the cult’s world came tumbling down and Leo fled to Fiji where he currently lives.

About 90 heavily-armed police raided 12 properties owned by the church, looking for three leaders, and illegal guns and detonators.

The five-bedroom Campbelltown home, which includes a tennis court and large backyard, was advertised in SA Weekend magazine.

Rocco Leo could not be contacted on Saturday but, in the Supreme Court in March, his Adelaide “messenger”, Kathryn Conder, said her leader would not attend court only because he could not afford an airfare from Fiji.

“Pastor Rocco is a man of God and he’s telling you that, if someone makes a decision against whomsoever is a man of God, they will personally see the hand of God move,” she said.

“So it’s really important that people understand that to try to fight against the hand of God is futile.

“To make a wrong decision, well, the judgment of God can come down on a person’s head that very day.”