Seasonal Garden Cafe’s Silvia Hart made bankrupt after brief Federal Court hearing, which she failed to attend
Adelaide Hills cafe identity Sylvia Hart, who owes thousands of dollars to her ex-staff, suppliers and wedding couples, has been declared bankrupt.
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A failed Adelaide Hills cafe operator who owes thousands of dollars to former staff, suppliers and wedding couples has been declared bankrupt.
The Federal Circuit Court ordered the sequestration of the estate of Seasonal Garden Cafe’s Silvia Hart at a brief three-minute hearing on Tuesday.
Ms Hart, who closed the Hahndorf cafe on September 1, was not in court to defend the order.
Pooraka produce company AMJ Produce sought to bankrupt Ms Hart over the failure of her company Maerhuev to pay a $55,000 debt.
The decision will mean a trustee will be appointed to Ms Hart’s estate to manage her affairs and potential sale of assets to settle any debts.
A bankruptcy generally lasts for three years and prevents an individual from being a director or being involved in the management of a company.
The decision comes after Ms Hart posted on the cafe’s Facebook page on Saturday morning blaming an ex-employee and the landlord on reasons behind her closing the cafe.
People posted warning her the statements were potentially defamatory and by Saturday afternoon her post had been removed.
The Advertiser revealed this month that wedding couples have likely lost thousands of dollars in deposits and had to find new venues after learning, via a staff member, the cafe was to close its doors.
Some couples only found out about the cafe’s closure after reading Advertiser.com.au
Four couples have told The Advertiser they have secured new wedding venues.
Ms Hart has repeatedly refused to speak to The Advertiser but told Today Tonight on September 11 she wouldn’t have taken a deposit if she didn’t think she could deliver a wedding.
She guaranteed she would repay the wedding deposits “even if I have to pay it out of my own money”.
Today Tonight also said that Ms Hart had blamed “bad staff” for her financial misfortune.
Former employee Kellie Hunter told Today Tonight that it “blew her away” that Ms Hart had not taken any responsibility for what went wrong.
Ms Hunter, who was a manager at the Hahndorf branch and previously spoke to The Advertiser on condition of anonymity, said Ms Hart owed her $14,000 in superannuation and $6500 in wages.
The landlord has declined to comment on the matter or address any of Ms Hart’s accusations.
The Advertiser reported on September 6 that police visited the cafe for the second time in less than a fortnight after a report Ms Hart’s partner was among people taking fixtures from the venue, including an oven door, without the landlords’ approval.
Maerhuev was liquidated in July and liquidators KPMG are anticipating initial investigations into the company’s affairs should be finalised next month.
