Scale Facilitation’s David Collard to pay back millions in unpaid wages to workers, rent

Australian entrepreneur David Collard must hand over millions of dollars in unpaid wages and bills in the US, as the AFP finalises an investigation into his collapsed empire.

The walls are closing in on failed businessman David Collard, who will have to pay millions of dollars in unpaid wages and bills as police finalise an investigation into his collapsed start-up empire.

Scale Facilitation’s US-based staff have won a $US1.2m settlement after the Victorian’s firm crumbled last year, just months after its New York office was triumphantly opened by Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton.

Mr Collard has also admitted Scale owes $US3m in rent for the 88th floor of One World Trade Center, while he is being pursued for hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid credit card bills and a lease for a 2022 Rolls Royce Ghost Black Badge.

David Collard in Scale Facilitation’s One World Trade Center offices. Picture: Abby Holden

It can also be revealed that Mr Collard is being forced out of another apartment in Manhattan over failing to pay the rent, with an eviction warrant due to be executed by February 3.

The former PwC partner set up Scale to commercialise innovations across Australia and the US, with Mr Marles calling him a “force of nature” and Mr Dutton dubbing him “Superman”.

But the company’s rapid rise was halted in June last year when Australian Federal Police officers raided its headquarters in Geelong. Staff in Australia and the US were left unpaid for months before Mr Collard’s empire was wound up by the Victorian Supreme Court.

An investigation by this masthead revealed the AFP was looking into whether the company dishonestly obtained $76m from the tax office by filing almost 100 allegedly fraudulent business activity statements.

David Collard with Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles. Picture: Supplied

No charges have been laid and Scale has previously denied wrongdoing. It is understood police are now in the final stages of the investigation, with an AFP spokeswoman saying the force would “provide an update at an appropriate time”.

Mr Collard’s legal peril has also recently intensified in New York, where a federal court judge last month ticked off on the settlement with 13 unpaid staff who had brought a class action.

The $US1.2m deal included $US264,528 for former chief financial officer Vanessa Geronimo and $US57,500 for former chief operating officer Michael Winn, who had both been named in the case before they moved to countersue Mr Collard and Scale.

David Collard appears in a New York court earlier this year on assault charges. Picture: Jefferson Siegel)

The businessman did not respond when contacted about the settlement.

In Australia, unpaid staff have been forced to rely on a taxpayer-funded assistance scheme, as Worrells liquidator Scott Anderson struggled to find a cent to help despite Mr Collard’s conglomerate claiming to have $1.2bn in assets when it collapsed.

Last week, Mr Anderson said he needed more money to continue his investigations. He said Mr Collard had “failed to comply with my requests” to turn over corporate records and had told him the accounts were “not properly maintained” and “cannot be relied upon”.

Originally published as Scale Facilitation’s David Collard to pay back millions in unpaid wages to workers, rent