Jon Adgemis, the former Sydney pub owner whose hospitality empire collapsed under debts reportedly totaling $1.8 billion, is seeking to close a Federal Court public examination into his bankruptcy and business failure. The hearing, which commenced on Thursday and was expected to span seven days, aims to scrutinize how Adgemis’s network of 27 pubs and hotels failed and to investigate allegations linked to financial irregularities.

Adgemis’s legal team argued for the examination to be held in private or to be canceled altogether, citing claims of abuse of process by the liquidators BRI Ferrier and bankruptcy trustees from Pitcher Partners. His lawyers also raised alleged conflicts of interest involving ERA Lawyers, representing the liquidators. The court was presented with confidential documents intended to support these claims, though the details were not made public. Miles Condon, Adgemis’s counsel, sought to limit the scope of questioning on unspecified matters, a move challenged by the court registrar Susan O’Conner.

The public examination is designed to unravel the collapse of Public Hospitality Group, once touted as a $600 million enterprise with plans for an ASX listing. The investigation covers how Adgemis accrued such substantial debts and examines whether additional undisclosed assets exist. A significant focus is on allegations that several of Adgemis’s venues were involved in a claimed Goods and Services Tax (GST) fraud exceeding $300 million, an assertion Adgemis denies. An Australian Taxation Office official previously characterized the scheme as a “sham arrangement.”

Adgemis was declared bankrupt in 2025 following intervention by the Australian Taxation Office. Creditors other than major lenders reportedly received no repayments after Deutsche Bank seized and sold his remaining pubs last year. Adgemis, once a partner at accounting firm KPMG Australia, integrated his personal finances heavily with his hospitality business. His former accountant and KPMG colleague David Drummond is under professional scrutiny by the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB), which is monitoring the court proceedings closely. The TPB opposes Adgemis’s request to close the hearing, citing its need for access to evidence to inform its investigation into Drummond’s conduct.

Several associates and former business partners, including Olvera Advisors principal Damien Hodgkinson, were scheduled to give evidence during the examination. However, some individuals, such as Tom Wallace—who previously acquired some of Adgemis’s venues—and financial controller Alex Andruska, did not attend, with service of subpoenas reportedly unsuccessful in certain cases.

The court’s decision on whether the examination will proceed publicly or privately was scheduled for the following day. Media organizations and the Tax Practitioners Board have voiced strong opposition to any closure, emphasizing the public interest in transparency given the magnitude of the debts and the allegations involved.