Ladybird chef and director Sun Jay Soon claims Lou Jovanosvki was running collapsed company

A chef owes more than $2.7m in unpaid tax after he agreed to a request from his boss to sign as a director of two restaurants that later went into liquidation. Now he’s worried the debts will ruin him.

A chef at a string of well-known restaurants says he is facing bills for $2.7m in unpaid tax after he agreed to a request from his boss to sign as a director of venues which went into liquidation.

Sun “Jay” Soon says he is depressed and anxious after two years of million-dollar tax bills landing in his letterbox.

He worries his wages will be garnished and he will ultimately be bankrupted by the debts.

Mr Soon worked as a chef for Lupco “Lou” Jovanovksi at prominent Melbourne venues before moving to Queensland and helping launch Ladybird restaurants at Hope Island and Palazzo Versace as well as Birdcage at Main Beach.

Jay Soon is a director of the company that operated Steakhouse 66 at Melbourne’s Docklands.

The company behind Ladybird, HI Restaurant, went into liquidation over a $1.3m tax and superannuation debt in November.

The liquidation followed the collapse of another restaurant company, behind Melbourne based Steakhouse Grill 66, wound-up by the courts in 2021.

Both collapsed companies were solely directed by Mr Soon, 47. Mr Soon said he agreed to be appointed after Mr Jovanovski assured him the company finances would be taken care of.

Ladybird Restaurant at Main Beach.

The chef said he was working six days a week in kitchens and had no visibility of the companies’ operations apart from food service.

“Lou contacted me and said ‘Jay do you want to run a business?’,” Mr Soon said.

“I said ‘no, I’m just a chef and I’ve got no money, I just want to cook’.

“He said he’d organise the money and I’d just do the menu, so I agreed.”

With wife Natalie Hallert, Mr Jovanovski – who was bankrupt from June 2014 to September 2018 and a disqualified director from 2012-13 – operates the Ladybird and Birdcage restaurants in Main Beach, Red Steakhouse at Sanctuary Cove and Zazu Restaurant in Brisbane’s West End.

Natalie Hallert and Lou Jovanovski.

Mr Soon was appointed director of the Grill 66 company two months before Mr Jovanovski was disqualified as a director. Mr Soon was appointed director to HI Restaurant in August 2018, while Mr Jovanovski was bankrupt.

Ladybird launched on the waterfront at the Hope Island Shopping Centre in October 2018 and closed down early in 2020.

A new Ladybird restaurant, using the same logo, signage, Google listing and social media pages, opened in October 2020 at the ex-Palazzo Versace hotel at Main Beach, where it continues to trade.

Ladybird restaurant at Main Beach.

Mr Soon said he helped Mr Jovanovski and Ms Hallert relocate the Ladybird business to Main Beach, where he was still working “like a horse” until July last year.

When million-dollar-plus debt notices started arriving from the ATO, Mr Soon said he forwarded them to Mr Jovanovski, expecting it would be taken care of.

“Throughout 17 years of hard working, I ended up more than a million dollar debts on me,” he said.

“I have just managed kitchen operation to make sure the products are good.

“All the financial aspects are out of capacity, and it was all done with Lou and others.”

An online review of Birdcage by its director Lou Jovanovski.

An online review of Birdcage by its director Natalie Hallert.

Mr Soon said he knew as director of both companies he was legally responsible for the debt, but did not believe the situation was fair.

Neither Ms Hallert nor Mr Jovanovski have ever been directors or shareholders in the liquidated company HI Restaurant.

Mr Jovanovski is sole director and shareholder of a company called Ladybird Restaurant and Bar, which was created in 2020 with its own ABN.

Lupco "Lou" Jovanovski. Picture: Facebook

The Bulletin has seen copies of till balance sheets, business account statements and daily reports for the Main Beach Ladybird restaurant that feature the name and/or ABN of the liquidated restaurant company as recently as July 2022.

An ATO audit of the collapsed company showed it accrued staff superannuation debts for almost two years after the Hope Island Ladybird restaurant closed in 2020.

Mr Jovanovski was a cardholder for HI Restaurant’s business credit card, which the Bulletin has also seen.

Bank statements for the collapsed company show “loan” payments received from Birdcage restaurant as well as payments for flights, other Gold Coast restaurants and to St Stephen’s College in Upper Coomera.

The collapsed company was still paying Ladybird’s suppliers in June 2022.

Company credit card for HI Restaurant, which is in liquidation.

Questions sent to Mr Jovanovski were answered by his lawyer, Martin Daniel, who said his client was “outraged by the false accusations that have been raised about him”.

“Our client strenuously denies the allegations raised by Mr Soon which are demonstrably false,” the response said.

Originally published as Ladybird chef and director Sun Jay Soon claims Lou Jovanosvki was running collapsed company