Miss Universe Australia embroiled in failed business scandal

Melbourne sports coach and model Moraya Wilson was last week crowned Miss Universe Australia, but now she’s in the sights of the financial regulator.

Melbourne model and school sports coach Moraya Wilson has been crowned Miss Universe Australia. Picture: David Caird

The father of the newly crowned Miss Universe Australia, Moraya Wilson, can be revealed as a former property developer who has been banned by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission from managing corporations until 2027 with his numerous failed companies leaving creditors out of pocket more than $45m.

Moraya Wilson, 22, was named Miss Universe Australia last week, where she alluded to recent family hardships.

Her father, Anton Wilson, who founded the property development company Mider in 1995, and her mother Melinda, were disqualified in March 2022 by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission from managing corporations for five years.

Ms Wilson owns 10 companies which are being deregistered by ASIC. Picture: Supplied

ASIC found Mr Wilson, who appears to be a fan of the film Wall Street and Michael Douglas’s character Gordon Gekko, was a director of nine companies which entered into liquidation between 2015 and 2020.

Mrs Wilson was a director of five of those companies.

ASIC found that Mr Wilson managed Ian Street Developers, Maemae Property Group, Anacott Steel, Churchill Scwartz, Keller Zabel, and Teldar Paper Property Group while being disqualified from managing corporations due to being an undischarged bankrupt.

As part of its investigation, ASIC estimated that more than $45m was owed to creditors across all the companies, of which about $21m was owed to the Australian Taxation Office.

Anton Wilson has been disqualified from managing corporations for five years.

The film link comes via the company names Anacott Steel and Teldar Paper.

Those were the names of fictional companies referred to in the Oscar winning movie Wall Street.

The film’s sequel, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, referenced a fictional investment bank Churchill Schwartz and fictional investment firm Keller Zabel.

In December 2016, Mr Wilson was sued by his former business partner Nicholas Caple over a property development in Melbourne’s CBD and was ordered by the Supreme Court of Victoria to pay Mr Caple $7.46m plus interest.

In 2017 Mr Wilson was declared bankrupt.

His daughter, Moraya, detailed on her Miss Universe Australia contestant biography that she planned to launch a fashion business as part of her business management studies.

The sports coach and youth mental health advocate did not reveal that she was the director of 10 companies in the construction and hospitality space, all of which were set up in November 2020.

A corporations search shows that those companies are in the process of being deregistered.

The Herald Sun is not suggesting Miss Wilson has done anything wrong.

The Miss Universe Australia organisation has been contacted for comment and a request for comment from Miss Wilson has been made via the organisation.