Embattled racing identity Bill Vlahos, the operator of failed $500 million punting club ‘The Edge’, has filled for bankruptcy over his collapsed punters club owing $200 million to investors.
Mr Vlahos was chairman of BC3 Thoroughbreds and also ran a high roller punters club called The Edge, until last week. There were at least 1000 members of the syndicate, with some losing more than $1 million which forced investors to sell their property to pay their debts.
Clyde White of PCI Partners confirmed this week that he had been appointed trustee to Mr Vlahos’ estate, said that the only substantial debt declared by Mr Vlahos was $26 million owed to Bahamas-based company Aloga, which was used by a group of US businessmen to invest in the punting club. Mr White also indicated that there may be other substantial debts once news of the bankruptcy spreads.
Mr White said he would do a thorough search for any money still available. He said that Mr Vlahos’ only declared asset was a bank account containing a few thousand dollars. “He doesn’t have any real property and there’s a bank account, that’s it,” he said. Mr Vlahos only identified six to 10 creditors, of which Aloga was by far the largest.
Mr White welcomed creditors to contact him with any information to help him search for the missing millions. A creditors meeting will be held in January.
Sources: Fairfax, Herald Sun
