Jerry Schwartz in court / Pic: John Grainger Source: The Daily Telegraph MILLIONAIRE hotelier Eve Schwartz thought her son's de facto partner was a "gold digger" who was after the family's money in the months before the matriarch died, an inquest heard yesterday. Mrs Schwartz's cosmetic surgeon son Dr Jerry Schwartz had been in a "tumultuous" relationship with Liliane Viselle when his 79-year-old mother was found dead in her Point Piper apartment in 2005. He inherited a large slice of his mother's $70 million estate and has also taken over his family's sprawling hotel and property empire, although he remains locked in a long-running court battle with Ms Viselle over the will. A coroner is examining both Mrs Schwartz's death and that of her best friend Magda Wales, who died less than a month later aged 76. The court heard Mrs Wales's son George said he was left "flabbergasted" when Ms Viselle began questioning what killed his mother on the day of her funeral. She had been suffering breast and bowel cancer. Do you wonder about Magda's death? Ms Viselle allegedly asked him. Mr Wales said his mother had been trying to distance herself from Ms Viselle before she died and had told him Mrs Schwartz suspected the woman was trying to get hold of her son's money. "When she made those statements to me (after the funeral), the only thing I can remember was just that I wanted to get myself away from her," he said. Dr Schwartz signed the two womens' death certificates, but made no note of suspicious cuts on his mother's wrists, the inquest heard. But Mr Wales said he had no suspicions about his own mother's death and he thought Dr Schwartz signing her death certificate was appropriate since he had been giving her "ongoing" treatment. Police had initially barred Dr Schwartz from seeing Mrs Wales's body and refused to let him complete the paperwork after noting his "odd" reactions at the scene, the inquest was told. Inspector Craig Lowery said he had "concerns" about how Dr Schwartz had learned about the death when he suddenly arrived at the Rushcutters Bay apartment complex. "His behaviour was odd at the time but to put an exact finger on it is hard to articulate," he said. To me, something struck me that something was not right. Dr Schwartz got upset when he wasn't allowed to see Mrs Wales and police ordered him to leave, Insp Lowery said.