Russell Manser’s net worth: Shocking details emerge about TikTok star’s fortune – and how bank robber’s once booming business empire crumbled owing millions… but he was STILL living large days before he died

Ex-con turned TikTok celebrity Russell Manser was the owner of a multimillion-dollar real estate portfolio, luxury cars and a $3 million company… until his business empire collapsed amid a legal feud and crippling debt.

Daily Mail Australia can reveal extraordinary details about how reformed bank robber Manser, 56, was quietly embroiled in a high-stakes court case that partly led to him standing up for prisoners who ended up in administration.

He died on Saturday night. His cause of death has still not been made public, but there were no suspicious circumstances.

Manser had spent 23 years in various prisons in Australia until he turned his life around and became an advocate for victims of institutional abuse.

He was raped repeatedly in juvenile detention, and then again in an adult prison as a teenager, and launched “The Voice of a Survivor” in 2017 to help abused inmates get compensation.

The company went bankrupt last year, owing the tax authorities about $1 million, but also went bankrupt because a former customer filed a civil lawsuit for more than $800,000.

Despite the collapse of his business, Manser started a podcast called The Stitch Up and continued to live a life of luxury with luxury vehicles, a penthouse on Sydney Harbor and a farm in northern NSW.

A source who kept in touch with Manser until his death couldn’t understand where his money came from, telling Daily Mail Australia: ‘He lived quite a large life and I couldn’t figure out how podcasts would sustain that.

“Voice of the Survivor died in the ***,” they said.

Failed business and a legal battle

The Voice of a Survivor offered free counseling to victims, offered to prepare a detailed report on their abuse for a fee, and then referred potential compensation claimants to law firms.

The company also charged the victims for continued support during the legal process.

Manser addressed allegations that the company conducted business by soliciting former prisoners and cold-calling victims during a May 2022 episode of ABC’s Australian Story.

He told the programme: ‘We’ve been in business for five years now.

‘It hasn’t been smooth sailing. People are trying to imply that we have done things that are unwanted, which is really hurtful.”

Manser denied allegations that his company pressured vulnerable sexual assault survivors to initiate compensation cases in exchange for kickbacks from law firms in a practice known as “claim farming.”

“We don’t have to claim a farm, people come to us,” he told the programme.

‘We don’t have to do that. But you know, I wouldn’t say for a second that we didn’t make mistakes.

He also rejected suggestions. The Voice of Survivor took several thousand dollar commissions from law firms for referring prisoners to them, and explained how the company made money.

“We actually bill for a report and the support we provide to the survivor,” he said.

The company went bankrupt last July after a change in the law stopped victims from making claims against people who had died, making the business model unprofitable.

According to insolvency documents, The Voice of a Survivor earned about $3.2 million in fiscal 2022, with debts of about $2.8 million.

The company owed about $1 million to the Internal Revenue Service last year when it filed for bankruptcy, but the company also went bankrupt because of an $800,000 civil suit by a former customer.

According to insolvency documents, the claim related to allegations that the company had been negligent and breached its duty of care.

The case is being heard in federal court.

Life of luxury

Manser continued to live his life of luxury long after his company collapsed.

He had around 300,000 social media followers on Instagram and TikTok and regularly addressed his audience while leaning against the hood of one of his luxury cars.

Manser owned a black Mercedes worth about $160,000, and a Jeep Cherokee worth about $80,000, which he bought in 2022.

“I enjoy the fruits of my labor every now and then,” he told his Facebook followers, alongside a photo of the new car wrapped in a red bow.

‘Work hard, stay focused and pursue goals.’

In his videos, he assured others that they, too, could live a good life if they “got off the PlayStation and put down the hookah.”

When he wasn’t posing in a luxury car, he was filming from his ‘penthouse’ apartment on King Street Wharf, overlooking Sydney Harbour, or from his $2 million farm in northern NSW.

The extensive estate covers six hectares with a four-bedroom house, ten paddocks, stables and a dam.

According to insolvency documents, Manser received $218,000 from the company between July 2021 and July 2023.

That amount consisted of 18 “bonus payments” from The Voice of a Survivor, worth a total of $45,800, and nine additional payments worth $33,200.

Manser Co Pty Ltd, owned by Manser, also received 77 payments worth $139,000.

He also uploaded photos in rare shoes and designer clothes.

Girlfriend talks about their open relationship

On Sunday evening, his lover Liliana Gagic posted a series of photos of them together on Instagram.

In the caption, she wrote, “Goodbye my love, until we meet again.”

Ms Gagic told Daily Mail Australia they had an “open relationship”.

“Russell and I had an open relationship,” she said.

“I’m in Europe at the moment, so I wasn’t next to him (when he died).

“Russell was a warrior. A person with a mission. Soul, everyone who ever met will remember it forever. A man of freedom, frequency and vibration that not many people embody.’

She said he showed ‘love and compassion towards victims of sexual abuse’ and described him as a ‘one in a million man’.

Manser is survived by his two sons, Ky and Bayley Manser.