Daniel Tzvetkoff, the 25-year-old IT entrepreneur whose online payments empire collapsed last week, is being sued by his former business partner Salvatore ‘Sam’ Sciacca for $90 million in damages.
Sciacca has launched legal action against Tzvetkoff and his company BT Projects in the Queensland Supreme Court. Sciacca is also a director of BT Projects.
Tzvetkoff and Sciacca were listed jointly on last year’s BRW Young Rich list with a combined fortune of $120 million.
The pair’s main business was online payments business Intabill, which was placed in liquidation with debts believed to be around $61 million. Intabill owes more than $50 million to online poker companies based in the United States.
Sciacca’s statement of claim against Tzvetkoff and BT Projects alleges Tzvetkoff failed to keep accurate financial records and inferred creditors had been paid when they had not.
Sciacca also alleges monies from BT Projects were diverted “without authorisation” and also claims Tzvetkoff paid profit distributions while “knowing that the financial records of the company were inaccurate and that the monies distributed were not in fact profits”.
“Reputation is everything … I just want to get into court to tell my story,” Sciacca told Queensland’s The Sunday Mail newspaper yesterday.
Tzvetkoff’s lawyer Shaun Rose said his client strenuously denied Sciacca’s allegations and will fight them.
“At all times Mr Tzvetkoff and Mr Sciacca acted together as directors of BT Projects Pty Ltd. Mr Tzvetkoff believes that Mr Sciacca’s actions seek to distance himself from the management of the company and are not in the interests of the company’s creditors,” Rose said in a statement.
Rose told SmartCompany this morning that he could not comment further.
Liquidator John Park of KordaMentha is continuing to investigate the collapse of BT Projects.
A creditors meeting will be held on July 21.
Tzvetkoff, who is just 25, shot to prominence last year when he emerged as the mystery buyer of a $27 million mansion on the most exclusive strip on the Gold Coast, Hedges Avenue.
He was known for his high-flying ways. He owned a number of luxury cars and also had shares in a nightclub business and a luxury cruising business.
James was the editor and publisher of SmartCompany and LeadingCompany for five years. He is now the Australian Financial Review‘s companies & markets editor, and a former BRW editor.
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