An Australian technology company that won major contracts with Formula 1 and world football body FIFA has gone bankrupt with $13 million in debt after facing criticism over its excessive spending.
Melbourne-based E-Mersion Media (Aust) Pty Ltd has gone bankrupt and laid off its remaining staff.
The company, which also had an office in Great Britain, was involved in the digitization of printed magazines, which led to contracts to produce publications for FIFA and F1.
The parent company E-Mersion Media Pty Ltd is still active, but the Commissioner of State Revenue began liquidation proceedings against E-Mersion Media (Aust) Pty Ltd in March. news.com.au reported.
Mathew Gollant, from restructuring firm CJG Advisory, has been appointed administrator of the company.
Last year, half of its then 16 employees, including some senior executives, left E-Mersion Media as the company faced legal disputes and criticism over some of its spending on expenses.
Australian technology company E-Mersion Media (Aust) Pty Ltd, which won major contracts with Formula 1 (pictured) and world football body FIFA, has gone bankrupt with debts reported to be $13 million
John Iliopoulos (photo), the sole director of the parent company, said: ‘No one has more to lose in this than the parent company, the shareholders, which of course includes my family interest’
This included $1 million spent on travel expenses over three years, part of which was $100,000 to rent a luxury villa in Qatar’s capital, Doha, for a year.
Creditors say they are owed more than $13 million, but some of the alleged debts are disputed.
Creditors include the Australian Taxation Office, which is owed $1.1 million, the company’s accountants, who are owed $23,000, and former employees who claim to own amounts ranging from $2,000 to about $100,000.
However, the largest creditor by far is the parent company, which claims it is owed $11.4 million.
Each of the claimed debts was acknowledged at an initial meeting of creditors for just $1 each, meaning they could attend but had to provide proof of what they said they owed.
The company spent $1 million on travel expenses over three years, part of which was $100,000 to rent a luxury villa in the Qatari capital Doha (pictured) for a year.
John Iliopoulos, the company’s sole director, said: ‘No one has more to lose in this than the parent company, the shareholders, which of course includes my family interest.
“I have and will continue to fight to try to save [the company]he told news.com.au.
Mr Iliopoulos previously said that high travel costs were “just part of our business”.
“We are an Australian company, all our contracts are based overseas.
‘It would have been much more expensive to book individual hotels for a month. It turned out to be cheaper to book (the villa) for the whole year.
“We continued to negotiate deals in Qatar, I don’t think it was a waste of money.”
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Mr Iliopoulos and Mr Gollant for comment.