Former PwC consultant Bill Dongbiao Zheng and his Investors Direct Financial business allegedly owe a secretive British Virgin Islands lender almost $30 million after the collapse of a project to develop a major city on disused farms near Melbourne.

Highend Investments is pursuing the businesses linked to Investors Direct in the Victorian Supreme Court, claiming that it lent Mr Zheng and his companies $US8 million ($12.2 million) in 2016. Interest on the loan was 20 per cent annually and came due monthly between April 2018 and November 2019, the lender claims.