The business empire of high-flying IT entrepreneur Daniel Tzvetkoff lies in ruins after his main holding company, BT Projects, was placed in liquidation after crumbling under a reported $80 million of debt.
The collapse comes nine months after Tzvetkoff and his business partner, Sam Sciacca were valued at $120 million on BRW’s Young Rich List.
The pair’s main business was Intabill, an online payments company. Exactly how much is owed by Intabill, which had a strong presence in the online gambling sector and had expertise in “high-risk sectors”, is unclear.
Unsecured creditors are owed around $55 million, with the bulk of this owed to four online poker companies that used Intabill’s services: Kolyma (which owns the Full Tilt Poker site), Poker Stars, Absolute Poker and Golden Poker.
In June, Kolyma launched legal action against Intabill in the Queensland Supreme Court, seeking the payment of a debt of $52 million. Kolyma claimed payments collected by Intabill on behalf of Kolyma had not been passed on to the poker company.
The amount owed to three secured creditors – Jorn Schamann, Bright Star Qld Pty Ltd, ANI Holdings Pty Ltd – is not known.
Liquidator John Park of KordaMethna told the Gold Coast Bulletin that Tzvetkoff had signed personal guarantees to many creditors.
Park was unavailable for comment before publication.
Another business associated with Tzvetkoff, luxury boat company DSB Cruises, was placed in hands of receivers last month.
It has been reported that many of Tzvetkoff’s luxury assets, including his Lamborghini with the licence plate BALLER, have been repossessed and Tzvetkoff has also reportedly sold his share in a Brisbane nightclub earlier this month.
Tzvetkoff, who is just 25, shot to prominence last year when he emerged as the mystery buyers of a $27 million mansion on the most exclusive strip on the Gold Coast, Hedges Avenue. The property was formerly owned by Young Rich member Tony Smith, who was forced to sell after striking financial trouble after the collapse of Gold Coast finance and tourism business, MFS.
The mansion was undergoing extensive renovations, but Tzvetkoff was forced to stop work earlier this year in one of the first signs his empire could be under pressure.
In April, Intabill sacked more than 90 of its 200 workers, blaming the economic environment.
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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