Elli Cakar, operator of Glenelg Pier Hotel and Royal Terrace Hotel, accused of not paying $21,000 lighting bill

An Adelaide pub operator and property developer is again at the centre of claims he is refusing to paying his bills.

A pub owner and property developer at the centre of at least two legal battles over unpaid bills is facing further court action for allegedly failing to pay a $21,000 lighting bill that is seven months overdue.

Entertainment Venues Australia director Elli Cakar is accused of refusing to settle an account with Klemzig-based Fiorentino Imports which manufactured and supplied lights for the Glenelg Pier Hotel and Brougham Adelaide last September.

The company, which has a retail arm, Disegno Luce, says it has served Mr Cakar, pictured, with a summons this month giving him 21 days to pay the debt or it would start court action.

Mr Cakar is the operator of six venues, including Propaganda and the Royal Terrace Hotel.

Living Australia director Elli Cakar

He was behind a failed $1.4 billion proposal to transform a 20,000 sq m block of Thorngate in Adelaide’s inner north into a mini-city, leaving some residents hundreds of thousands of dollars out of pocket.

Fiorentino Imports general manager David Fiorentino told The Advertiser Mr Cakar had not paid his company despite repeated assurances he would.

On April 11, Mr Fiorentino put a picture of Mr Cakar and his business partner on social media warning others to “watch out” for the pair, who owed “money all over the country”. “He (Elli) went into damage control, rang me about nine times almost in tears saying ‘you’re going to finish me,” Mr Fiorentino said.

“Then he swapped and said ‘if you don’t take it down I’m going to sue you’. I said ‘you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do, I’m not taking it down’.”

The post was still online yesterday. Mr Fiorentino said he had been contacted by numerous people who claimed Mr Cakar also owed them money.

Mr Fiorentino said his cousin, who undertook the electrical work to install the lights, was also owed $19,000.

He said it was not his intention to try and close down Mr Cakar’s business and that he just wanted to get paid.

Mr Cakar said his company has been “in dispute” over the debt. “As this matter is in the courts, I am advised it would be inappropriate to comment further,” he said.

Mr Cakar is separately fighting a winding-up order against his development company, Living Australia, and is defending a civil claim over alleged failure to pay a $20,000 glazing bill for work done at the Pier Hotel and Brougham Adelaide.

Business consultant Phil Ransome was awarded a summary judgement in the amount of $24,995 in November against Mr Cakar’s company.

Mr Cakar has appealed to the Supreme Court to have the judgement set aside, with a hearing scheduled this morning.