Adelaide United owners sued for alleged $1.7 million debt
The owners of Adelaide United are being sued for $1.7m by a company linked to one of the club’s former owners – a bankrupt businessman.
SA News
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The owners of Adelaide United are being sued for $1.7m by a company associated with bankrupt businessman Bruno Marveggio that claims it is still owed money following the sale of the Reds to an international consortium in 2018.
A statement of claim was filed last week in the SA Supreme Court by MCBH Property Group.
It claimed it was due the $1.7m as it owned 25 per cent Adelaide United when it was sold, but was never paid.
Mr Marveggio was a director of MCBH until he was declared bankrupt in May 2019.
The final bill for the Reds could be even higher, with MCBH seeking interest and costs. The listed owner of Adelaide United is Australian Football Opportunities, of which Reds’ chairman Piet van der Pol is a director. He has identified himself as a shareholder but has consistently declined to name any other investors.
AFO bought the Reds in March 2018 for about $12m from a local consortium that included businessman Robert Gerard, lawyer Greg Griffin, who owned 30 per cent each, while Dr Richard Noble had 15 per cent and Mr Marveggio the remainder.
The other shareholders were all paid in full at the time, but according to the statement of claim, MCBH was to receive $1.675m in four instalments with the final payment due in March this year: “Given that the Respondent did not make any instalment payments, the total sum owed by the Respondent to the Applicant at 7 March 2020, was $1,675,000.00.”
Mr Marveggio and Mr van der Pol had an existing relationship, founding the Qingdao Red Lions, a lower league soccer club in China in 2016.
Mr van der Pol said the claim would be “defended” and posed no risk to the future of the club: “No, there is no risk and that this matter will have no impact on either the day to day operations of the club or its finances.”
Mr Marveggio was declared bankrupt over a $534,000 debt to the ATO, relating to one of his companies, W.P.A. Nominees.
Liquidators or administrators have been appointed to six entities linked to Mr Marveggio. MCBH is not one of those. Its directors are listed as Lian Basile and Alexandra Charalabidis. They are believed to be the wives of Mr Marveggio’s former business partners Tony Basile and George Charalabidis, who are shareholders of MCBH.
