Social media influencer and part-time model Bianca Cheah and her nightclub owner husband, Simon Chalmers, have been ordered to pay back investors $2 million AUD as part of a bankruptcy settlement. Cheah may also face criminal charges back home in Australia.
The Daily Telegraph reported last week that law enforcement in the Australian state of New South Wales are preparing to bring fraud charges against Cheah in connection with the outstanding debts. She and her husband were accused in 2019 of inflating profits of their online business, Sporteluxe, by including profits from Cheah’s influencer promotions and modeling earnings, in order to defraud investors.
Cheah has more than 156,000 followers on Instagram, where she posts a variety of lifestyle, fashion and parenting content. Chalmers is the former co-owner of the Beach Haus nightclub in Sydney, often frequented by Hollywood stars touring Down Under, such as Leonardo DiCaprio.
According to a lawsuit filed with an Australian court, investor Garren Cronin went into business with Cheah and Chalmers in 2017. He said they claimed Sporteluxe, a lifestyle website and e-commerce platform, boasted revenues of more than $200,000 AUD in the first half of that year.
Documents the couple allegedly submitted to Cronin in order to solicit investment projected an additional $325,000 AUD in revenue for the remainder of 2017. Instead, Cronin alleged the couple eventually ran the business into the ground.
Before a bankruptcy notice was issued against Cheah in 2019, Cronin had already purchased $1,066,649 AUD worth of shares in Sporteluxe.
The court found that Cheah and Chalmers transferred that money into their business accounts to inflate Sporteluxe’s revenue figures, part of an alleged scheme to entice other investors.
Cheah was not served with a bankruptcy notice until Feb. 2020, as she had relocated from Sydney to Los Angeles with Chalmers and their child.
Creditors have said the couple fled Australia to escape mounting financial liabilities. Chalmers denied this in comments to The Sydney Morning Herald last year. He pledged the couple would “make good” on outstanding debts.
“This commercial dispute has definitely taken a toll on our family and it is disappointing that our efforts to resolve it have been ignored,” he said. “We have built a life here in the [U.S.] and are not looking to shirk our responsibilities.”
But Cheah failed to meet the 21-day deadline imposed by bankruptcy officials to repay Cronin and other investors in Feb. 2019. She reportedly traveled back to Australia a few weeks after receiving the bankruptcy notice but left in March without having paid back any funds.
In Sept. 2020, an Australian judge found against Cheah and Chalmers for engaging in “misleading or deceptive conduct,” ordering them pay back combined both investment debts and interest, which today amounts to about $2 million AUD.
Though the couple reportedly still retain some involvement in operations of their online business, they said the company has been liquidated and sold off to a holding company in Wyoming. It has since rebranded as Amodrn.
It was still unclear who presently directs Amodrn. Regulatory filings for its U.S. holding company have been traced back to Chalmers, who said he was assigned to administer the company in a “purely administrative” capacity. But mystery shrouds the holding company’s ownership structure and just how extensive Cheah and Chalmers’ involvement still is.
The couple have said they lacked the financial means to repay any of their debts in 2019 due to medical expenses arising from the birth of their son.
Under its extradition treaty with the U.S., prosecutors may request that American law enforcement arrest those accused of crimes and deport them back to Australia to stand trial.
For the time being, financial woes and possible court time on the horizon don’t seem to be standing in the way of the couple enjoying the high life in California.
Cheah’s Instagram and YouTube accounts showcase snapshots of a luxurious Brentwood condominium overlooking the L.A. cityscape, family ski trips and a Doona Liki Trike stroller retailing for just under $400 USD.