Seasonal Garden Café owner owes $1.8m
The former owner of the failed Seasonal Garden Cafe in the Adelaide Hills has blamed theft and illness for her whopping $1.87 million debt burden, according to an investigation by liquidators.
Liquidators also claim Silvia Hart’s company may have been trading insolvent as far back as August 2017 and that the money from the sale of her cafe’s Norwood branch was not paid into company accounts,
Hart was declared bankrupt after the liquidation of her holding company Maerhuev Pty Ltd over an unpaid $55,000 produce bill.
A report filed with ASIC says Hart’s company has an almost $500,000 superannuation bill and owes $900,000 in unpaid tax. Staff have also lodged claims for $11,554 in unpaid wages.
KPMG’s Timothy Mableson said that Hart’s sale of the Norwood branch netted $50,000 and not $9 as she originally stated.
“The $50,000 consideration does not appear to have been received by the company, but rather paid into the director’s personal bank account,” he told the Advertiser.
“The director claims these funds were then applied to pay various creditors of the company. At the date of this report I am yet to be provided with evidence. My investigations in this regard are ongoing.”
Mableson said Hart had blamed company’s failure on her illness, theft at her cafes and others not making her aware of the company’s financial state, but he intends to lodge an insolvent trading claim against Hart’s bankrupt estate.
Sheridan Randall, 29th October 2019
