New Brisbane gym operator being chased for previous owners’ unpaid debts

A gym operator in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley is being chased for debts incurred by the previous operators of his gym.

Ross Macleod, who runs the X-Centre gym in Fortitude Valley, is being chased by people owed money from FC11 Pty Ltd, which ceased operating in February.

A liquidator’s report released this week advises that the Melbourne-based business owed just over $5 million to creditors.

Macleod told Brisbane newspaper The Courier-Mail that he has even had to fend off at least four lawsuits from irate FC11 creditors who mistakenly believe he was tied to the collapsed firm.

Macleod, who chose not to change the name of the gym when he took over its operations, told The Courier-Mail “it might be a necessary evil because of all this negative blowback,’’ he said.

“In hindsight, I should have rebranded.’’

After FC11 was reportedly evicted in December over unpaid rent, Macleod brokered a deal with the landlords to take over the Brunswick Street gym starting in early February.

Macleod bought some of the leased equipment and he’s now working with liquidators to purchase the remaining gear.

Many elite athletes are reportedly among the clientele of the X-Centre, which previously offered ‘sports education’ classes and reportedly claimed to have had an alliance with the University of Queensland.

The liquidator’s report claims FC11 “may have been insolvent from around October 2016”,’ a possibility which they said could result in a $1 million legal claim.

It added “we consider that offences may have been committed with respect to breaches of director’s duties and insolvent trading.”

The liquidator determined that FC11’s sole directors and owners, Michael Katsaris and Miltiadis Sakkos, "transferred the business of the company to a related entity" known as AGOGE Education Australia Pty Ltd.

That move has prompted a continuing investigation, the liquidator says.

Like FC11, Katsaris and Sakkos are the sole directors and owners of AGOGE, which is based at the University of Melbourne and listed as a ‘registered training organisation’.

AGOGE’s website still refers to FC11 as a going concern with which it has partnered to create “Australia’s leading sports education provider”. 

As of today both the FC11 and AGOGE websites are active while the FC11 Facebook page is promoting a May 2018 intake of students.

Click here to view the FC11 insolvency notice.

Images courtesy of the X-Centre/Facebook.

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