Top chef Scott Pickett will be hauled to a public examination over his multimillion-dollar dealings with the boss of notorious collapsed super fund First Guardian.
asserted
Pickett → haul → fund
Pickett will face a grilling from liquidators to the collapsed scheme who are trying to learn more about the fund’s manager, David Anderson, and his oversight of the First Guardian investment scheme.
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who → face → scheme
The former MasterChef guest judge is expected to be peppered with questions over his dealings with Anderson, particularly a decision to waive any repayment of the $13 million of funding First Guardian had provided to Pickett and Anderson’s joint hospitality business, Rogue Traders.
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Guardian → expect → Pickett
The date of the restaurateur’s examination is yet to be set by the court, but liquidators from FTI Consulting said they expected it to take place by the end of the year.
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it → set → year
First Guardian’s liquidators and receivers are continuing to claw back as much of the lost funds as possible, including recently selling Anderson’s Hawthorn mansion.
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liquidators → continue → mansion
The scheme collapsed in mid-2025 wiping out $512 million of super savings invested by 6000 people.
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scheme → collapse → people
In formal court action launched on Friday, the corporate watchdog accused Anderson of mismanaging the fund by spending investor money on his pet projects, including his Rogue Traders business partnership with Pickett.
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watchdog → launch → Pickett
Anderson is also accused of using tens of millions of dollars of investor money to pay allegedly illegal commissions to people spruiking the scheme, in what the Australian Securities and Investments Commission has described as “industrial-scale misconduct”.
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Commission → accuse → misconduct
He is expected to vigorously defend the allegations.
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He → expect → allegations
There is no suggestion that Pickett had any oversight of the fund, and he is not listed as a defendant in the ASIC case or any other legal matter.
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he → be → case
Pickett was contacted for comment.
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Pickett → contact → comment
He told this masthead in July that he had also been affected by the collapse of the fund.
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he → tell → fund
“The collapse of First Guardian cost my business its major financial backer and forced the appointment of administrators,” he said.
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he → cost → administrators
“I feel deeply for everyone affected, and I’m co-
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I → feel → everyone
The examinations of Pickett and others who received First Guardian cash from Anderson are expected to be a new avenue of inquiry for liquidators who are struggling to produce any meaningful return to investors.
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who → receive → investors
Last week, the fund’s liquidators told investors they had recouped only $8 million from selling investments that had been listed on First Guardian’s books as being worth $118.38 million.
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that → tell → books
This thin return did not include the sale of Anderson’s mansion backing onto the Yarra River, which the fund manager allegedly bought using investor funds for $9.04 million in late 2020.
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manager → include → 2020
The property was seized by receivers in mid-2025, just days after Anderson and his family moved out.
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Anderson → seize → mid-2025
The architecturally designed property with a pool and extensive grounds sold for a knockdown price of $7.04 million – an 18 per cent discount to its purchase price.
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property → design → price
Little of that cash will flow to investors, however, because of the number of large corporate creditors who were also owed money by Anderson and who had registered their security over the designer home.
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who → flow → home
Liquidators confirmed in the same update that they would be seeking to examine Pickett and others over the fund’s dealings and to see what other recoveries they might still be able to make.
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they → confirm → recoveries
Pickett and Anderson set up the Rogue Traders partnership in June 2020, and Anderson arranged for the business to receive $13 million of investor funds, according to recent court action launched by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.
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business → set → Commission
The money allowed Pickett to roll out a suite of new venues at a time when the rest of Melbourne’s hospitality industry was under immense financial pressure from pandemic restrictions.
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rest → allow → restrictions
These included buying Thai-inspired fine diner Longrain and its sister bar Longsong, as well as a Little Collins Street venue that would become Pickett’s swanky Chancery Lane bistro.
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that → include → Longrain
In early 2022, Smith Street Bistrot – hatted by Good Food – joined Pickett’s portfolio of venues.
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Bistrot → hat → venues
Another of Pickett’s restaurants, Matilda on Domain Road in South Yarra, was also wrapped into the Rogue Traders business, along with catering and other companies tied to his restaurant empire.
Anderson was not just a director of Rogue Traders alongside Pickett, he was also a director of each of the venues, according to corporate filings.
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he → wrap → filings
Anderson resigned as a director of the companies in early 2025 amid the investigation by the corporate regulator into the management of First Guardian.
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Anderson → resign → Guardian
Rogue Traders entered administration in September last year owing its creditors $27 million.
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Traders → enter → million
The company was in turn owed $21 million by the five Pickett restaurants and other related companies, including the food prep business for Pickett’s venues that it owned.
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it → owe → that
Despite the collapse of Rogue Traders, none of Pickett’s restaurants closed, and all staff were paid and vouchers honoured during the administration.
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vouchers → close → administration
Pickett has since restructured his business, closed Matilda and exited his venues within the Continental Hotel complex in Sorrento.
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Pickett → restructure → Sorrento
The Aporia
