Collapse forecast for Adelaide’s Mr Cheese dessert chain as director faces more than $2.6m in debts, wage theft fines
Insiders say a tasty Adelaide dessert chain could soon be reduced to crumbs as the evasive director racks up huge fines for stealing his employees’ wages.
Adelaide cheesecake chain Mr Cheese is at risk of collapse as its director and his companies face costs of more than $2.6m in debts and court-ordered compensation payments for wage theft.
Mr Cheese Central Kitchen and its director Tao Liu were ordered earlier this month to pay more than $835,000 to three kitchen workers after a court found they engaged in “prolonged” and “deliberate” wage theft.
The order added to a significant pileup of money already owed by the 39-year-old, which has included more than $1.8m of debts to creditors recorded over a 10-month period, during which seven of his companies entered liquidation.
Liquidator Alan Scott, whose firm SV Partners is overseeing three of the liquidated companies, said Mr Liu had recently told the firm “it looks like the group may fall over – all of his entities might fall over”.
Mr Scott said the multiple liquidations “looked like a pattern” and it was his opinion that Mr Liu “shouldn’t be a director”.
In addition to his Mr Cheese stores, Mr Liu is the director of liquidated company Burnside Dumplings, trading as Dumpling Lab, with restaurants at Burnside and Hindley St which have since closed.
The ATO recently applied to wind-up two more of his companies – Mr Cheese Central Market and Mr Cheese Central Kitchen.
The South Australian Employment Tribunal this month found Mr Liu and Mr Cheese Central Kitchen underpaid more than $111,000 of wages, overtime, annual leave and superannuation to team leader Tzu-Chi Lin, cook Meng-Cin Li and cook Wanyin Wang.
In his judgement, Judge Miles Crawley said Mr Liu had “conducted the business in such a way that he used ‘free’ labour from the applicant to prop up the business”.
“If the business failed, the applicant would not be paid.
“There has been no suggestion of apology or contrition for the actions of Mr Liu.”
The trio had worked until earlier this year at a head kitchen in Stepney, where desserts were prepared to sell at Mr Cheese stores.
Judge Crawley said Mr Liu had failed to file a response to the allegations or attend court hearings, despite attending one conciliation conference where no resolution was reached.
Liquidators have consistently struggled to gain the cooperation of Mr Liu, whose registered home address is in Brisbane.
A report on Vivid Pastries, which traded as gluten-free bakery Heidelberg Cakes, said Mr Liu had “failed to address or acknowledge” a potential insolvent trading claim of $317,000 against him.
A 2021 Mitsubishi Van belonging to Burnside Dumplings, valued at $33,250, was disclaimed by liquidators after they were “unable to ascertain the location of the vehicle”.
Liquidators reported Mr Liu had failed to hand over the books for five of his companies.
Mr Cheese was contacted for comment.
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Originally published as Collapse forecast for Adelaide’s Mr Cheese dessert chain as director faces more than $2.6m in debts, wage theft fines
