ASIC brings first criminal creditor-defeating charges against NSW restaurateur

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ASIC criminal creditor-defeating charges

Highlights

ASIC charged Giuseppe DeFrancesco with three offences for dishonestly redirecting $935,000 from Jasa Dining's sale proceeds between August 2023 and April 2024.
ASIC alleges DeFrancesco procured Jasa Dining to make a further $96,793 creditor-defeating transfer while insolvent between 10 April and 22 April 2024, marking its first criminal charge under section 588GAC(1).
DeFrancesco is also accused of offering $50,000 to induce a witness to withhold testimony, with the matter adjourned to 11 August 2026 in the Downing Centre Local Court.

Allegations tied to Jasa Dining sale proceeds

As reported by ASIC, Giuseppe DeFrancesco of Harrington Park, NSW has been charged with three offences linked to his conduct as an employee of Camden restaurant Jasa Dining Pty Ltd, now in liquidation, between August 2023 and June 2025.

ASIC alleges that between 17 August 2023 and 5 April 2024, he dishonestly used his position to redirect $935,000 from the sale of Jasa Dining to himself, to the detriment of the company's creditors and contrary to section 184(2) of the Corporations Act. That offence carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison.

The regulator also alleges that between 10 April 2024 and 22 April 2024, he procured, incited, induced or encouraged Jasa Dining to redirect a further $96,793 in sale proceeds contrary to section 588GAC(1) of the Corporations Act. ASIC says the transaction was a creditor-defeating disposition made while the company was insolvent.

Separately, DeFrancesco is alleged to have offered $50,000 to a person to induce them as a witness in a federal judicial proceeding to withhold true testimony, contrary to section 37(3) of the Crimes Act.

Regulatory and legal significance

Before its liquidation, Jasa Dining operated a restaurant under the business name The Italian Food Project. The prosecution gives the matter wider significance for insolvency enforcement because ASIC says it is the first charge it has brought under the criminal creditor-defeating disposition legislation.

The matter has been heard in the Downing Centre Local Court and adjourned to 11 August 2026 for further mention. It is being prosecuted by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, Cth.

Our earlier article on the Recover COVID Unemployment Fraud in Banks Act explained how U.S. lawmakers moved to recover nearly $1 billion in suspected pandemic-era unemployment funds frozen in bank accounts. It outlined plans for a federal-state task force to identify and return the money and noted the proposal to extend the statute of limitations for related fraud cases from five years to 10 years.

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