![\"Sarah](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/f7125693d22423df0ae663385c8d3bdeef4d194e.png\")
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November 1, 2026 \u2014 5:08pm<\/p>\n
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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n No gift articles left<\/p>\n You’ve used all of your gift articles. 3 more will become available on the 1st of every month.<\/p>\n Close<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n Top chef Scott Pickett will be hauled to a public examination over his multimillion-dollar dealings<\/a> with the boss of notorious collapsed super fund First Guardian.<\/p>\n Pickett will face a grilling from liquidators to the collapsed scheme who are trying to learn more about the fund\u2019s manager, David Anderson, and his oversight of the First Guardian investment scheme<\/a>.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s joint hospitality business, Rogue Traders.<\/p>\n The date of the restaurateur\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n First Guardian\u2019s liquidators and receivers are continuing to claw back as much of the lost funds as possible, including recently selling Anderson\u2019s Hawthorn mansion.<\/p>\n The scheme collapsed in mid-2025 wiping out $512 million of super savings invested by 6000 people.<\/p>\n Editor’s pick In formal court action launched on Friday, the corporate watchdog accused Anderson of mismanaging the fund by spending investor money on his pet projects<\/a>, including his Rogue Traders business partnership with Pickett.<\/p>\n 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 \u201cindustrial-scale misconduct\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n He is expected to vigorously defend the 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.<\/p>\n Pickett was contacted for comment.<\/p>\n Editor’s pick He told this masthead in July that he <\/a>had also been affected by the collapse of the fund.<\/p>\n \u201cThe collapse of First Guardian cost my business its major financial backer and forced the appointment of administrators,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel deeply for everyone affected, and I\u2019m co-operating fully with the liquidators.\u201d<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Last week, the fund\u2019s liquidators told investors they had recouped only $8 million from selling investments that had been listed on First Guardian\u2019s books as being worth $118.38 million.<\/p>\n This thin return did not include the sale of Anderson\u2019s mansion backing onto the Yarra River, which the fund manager allegedly bought using investor funds for $9.04 million in late 2020. The property was seized by receivers in mid-2025, just days after Anderson and his family moved out.<\/p>\n The architecturally designed property with a pool and extensive grounds sold for a knockdown price of $7.04 million \u2013 an 18 per cent discount to its purchase price.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Liquidators confirmed in the same update that they would be seeking to examine Pickett and others over the fund\u2019s dealings and to see what other recoveries they might still be able to make.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n The money allowed Pickett to roll out a suite of new venues<\/a> at a time when the rest of Melbourne\u2019s hospitality industry was under immense financial pressure from pandemic restrictions.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s swanky Chancery Lane bistro.<\/p>\n In early 2022, Smith Street Bistrot \u2013 hatted by Good Food<\/a> \u2013 joined Pickett\u2019s portfolio of venues.<\/p>\n Another of Pickett\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Anderson resigned as a director of the companies in early 2025 amid the investigation by the corporate regulator into the management of First Guardian.<\/p>\n Rogue Traders entered administration in September<\/a> last year owing its creditors $27 million<\/a>.<\/p>\n The company was in turn owed $21 million<\/a> by the five Pickett restaurants and other related companies, including the food prep business for Pickett\u2019s venues that it owned.<\/p>\n Despite the collapse of Rogue Traders, none of Pickett\u2019s restaurants closed, and all staff were paid and vouchers honoured during the administration.<\/p>\n Pickett has since restructured his business, closed Matilda and exited his venues within the Continental Hotel complex in Sorrento.<\/p>\n Start the day with a summary of the day\u2019s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n No gift articles left<\/p>\n You’ve used all of your gift articles. 3 more will become available on the 1st of every month.<\/p>\n Close![\"Chef](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/e64f6281720917c2b09f3c5f0775cc4496105d0c.jpeg\")
Chef and restaurateur Scott Pickett is facing a court-room grilling. Wayne Taylor<\/p>\n![\"First](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/e9d7ed0a931b4ea2c7c76d613b94b08c69e0a1b4.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Falcon](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/1f71e9d46e39f188d483a6cdf980c9ff5c08df77.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Receiveres](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/1793529137_939_1f71e9d46e39f188d483a6cdf980c9ff5c08df77.jpeg\")
Receiveres had seized David Anderson\u2019s home overlooking the Yarra River, Melbourne.Domain<\/p>\n![\"David](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/61a1e42238d10314d8c33b8cd98ef0bc4f926c98.jpeg\")
David Anderson (centre) arrives at his public examinations in late 2025. Photograph by Chris Hopkins<\/p>\n![\"Pickett\u2019s](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/c0a97e7d49b96409bd3a0c2f9a1772ecf3750261.jpeg\")
Pickett\u2019s venue Smith Street Bistrot in Collingwood. Chris Hopkins<\/p>\n![\"Sarah](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/1793529140_342_f7125693d22423df0ae663385c8d3bdeef4d194e.png\")
Sarah Danckert<\/a> is a senior reporter who specialises in investigations and corporate wrongdoing. She is a two-time Walkley Award winner, and has won six Quill Awards and two Kennedy Awards.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"November 1, 2026 \u2014 5:08pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":948618,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[64,63,99],"class_list":["post-948617","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/948617","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=948617"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/948617\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/948618"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=948617"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=948617"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=948617"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}