Patrick Kelly

[Admin]

Liquidator Appointed To Main Irish Trading Business Of Developer John McCabe
Published in Ireland

The High Court has ordered the winding up of developer John McCabe’s main trading company in the Republic following a petition from a creditor that has been pursuing the business for eight months, the Irish Times reported. Following a petition from MCR Personnel, the court ordered that McCabe Builders Ltd be wound up and appointed Kieran Wallace of KPMG as liquidator. Last autumn, the National Asset Management Agency appointed Jim Hamilton and David O’Connor of BDO as receivers over the company’s properties, in effect giving them control over it. MCR Personnel, which provided recruitment services to the company, originally began proceedings to have it wound up last August, but was trumped by Nama’s appointment of its receivers. The company returned to court in March and Ms Justice Mary Laffoy subsequently ordered its wind-up and Mr Wallace’s appointment. An official notice of the order was published at the weekend. Mr McCabe’s companies owe Nama €235 million and its appointment of receivers last year sparked a series of high-profile court actions involving the agency, the company and its directors.

[Admin]

The Indian businessman hoping to take over Blackburn Rovers has left a trail of unpaid debt in the UK.

Records show Ahsan Ali Syed has failed to pay a county court judgement of £61,500. Other debts include £7,800 in unpaid rent and nearly £1,000 in unpaid council tax.

Mr Ali is also listed as director of two UK companies which were dissolved for non-compliance.

Mr Ali's lawyer said some of the BBC's allegations are false and misleading.

Mr Ali lived in England between 2001 and 2005, saying he was here "enjoying family life".

Companies House records show one of his earliest listed addresses was in Colchester, Essex. However, the owner of the property said that Mr Ali has had no connection with the address.

Mr Ali did live in a rented flat in London's West End. The letting agent, Abdur Karim Ali, said Mr Ali "was a very good tenant, very quiet, until 2004 and he started delaying paying his rent."

Mr Ali suddenly vacated the London apartment in May 2005 owing approximately £7,800 in unpaid rent.

The letting agent said the man now hoping to buy Blackburn Rovers also left the flat littered with unopened mail and shredded documents.

"It was in a very, very bad condition. Everything was turned upside down."

Mr Ali did not leave a forwarding address, and the agent said he had hired solicitors to try and track down his former tenant, but they could not find him.

The BBC has discovered that other parties were also seeking Mr Ali for unpaid debts.

Registry Trust records show that Mr Ali is yet to settle a £61,500 "unsatisfied" - or unpaid - county court judgement made against him in 2007. Specific details of this judgement are not known.

Other debts that appear to be outstanding include an unpaid London congestion charge fine. Bailiffs were also seeking Mr Ali for unpaid Council Tax totalling £932.25.

Mr Ali says he has assets of about $3bn (£1.9bn) and the website of his Bahrain based company, Western Gulf Advisory, says he "plays a role in the management and the boards of over 133 companies worldwide".

As far as Mr Ali's UK business interests, the BBC could only find records linking him to two companies in London.

In 2001, he registered as a director of Grovebridge Investments. Five years later Companies House wrote to the company's directors, asking if it was still trading because no returns had been submitted.

Grovebridge Investments Limited was struck off in September 2006.

Mr Ali was also a director of All Star Foods, which was dissolved in 2004 - again because no returns were filed.

According to information published by Mr Ali's company, Western Gulf Advisory, he purchased a Canadian company between 2003 and 2004, for C$565,000 (£352,000) and sold it 16 months later for C$8m.

When asked about his Canadian interests, Mr Ali told the BBC that he had two Canada-based businesses: Western Gulf Petroleum and Western Gulf Investments, which were founded in 2004/5.

Just as in Britain, official records show these companies were dissolved for failure to file returns.

Earlier this week, the BBC revealed that Mr Ali's Bahrain based investment company, Western Gulf Advisory, was ordered to cease trading by the country's Ministry of Industry and Commerce.

While the company initially denied the claims, Mr Ali has since been quoted as saying that he is co-operating fully with the authorities in the Middle Eastern state.

Mr Ali has stressed that it is not his Bahrain-based company that is leading the takeover bid, but his Swiss based firm, Western Gulf Advisory-AG and his takeover bid remains unaffected.

According to his company website, Mr Ali has been self-employed since the age of 16, following in the footsteps of his family, which has 150 years' experience in private sector lending across Asia.

His company CV says Mr Ali's expertise is highly recognised in the financial world and that he acts as adviser to royalty and many high net-worth individuals.

Mr Ali has told the BBC he hails from Bhongir, a town with a population of 50,000, near Hyderabad in India. It is here, he says, his family owned 900 acres of farm land, making their money through agriculture.

However, Joseph Antony who writes for The Hindu newspaper says that Mr Ali is seemingly an unknown figure in his hometown - surprising given his apparent wealth.

He was told by a director working in the Government of Andhra Pradesh, that Mr. Ali's name does not figure in any of the records pertaining to the Bhongir area.

Sources in Bahrain suggest that he is similarly unheralded in Bahrain's financial circles.

Reports suggest that Mr Ali plans to invest £300m at Blackburn Rovers, who have fallen on hard times since winning the Premier League in 1995.

The club's success was bankrolled by local tycoon, Jack Walker. In recent years, Rovers have been financed by a trust set up by Mr Walker before his death in 2000. The club is now rumoured to be £20m in debt.

A number of overseas investors have shown an interest in buying Rovers, but Mr Ali's bid has made the greatest progress.

A Blackburn Rovers Football Club spokesman said: "The club has been for sale for some time and, for it to remain competitive in one of the world's toughest sporting competitions, we accept that new investment is required.

"Equally, the trustees of the late Jack Walker, who are being professionally advised, and the club's board of directors are acutely aware of the responsibility involved in passing the club to a new owner."

Prior to the broadcast of the full report on BBC 5 live on Sunday, 5 September 2010, the 5 live Investigates team submitted repeated requests for an interview with Mr Ali, but was told he was unavailable for comment. Western Gulf Advisory also failed to respond to a request for a written statement.

On Friday, 10 September, 2010 a lawyer representing Western Gulf Advisory-AG issued the following statement:

"The BBC's report contained a number of false and misleading allegations. In particular, there is no basis for the suggestion that Mr Ali had a questionable track record in business and a 'colourful financial history' such that he is unsuitable to take over Blackburn Rovers Football Club.

"In fact, Western Gulf Advisory AG is a well capitalised company and has US$850 million available in liquid assets for investment purposes. Both Western Gulf Advisory AG and Mr Ali remain committed to expanding their investments in the UK."

This edition of 5 live Investigates was broadcast on BBC Radio 5 live at 2100BST on Sunday, 5 September.

[Admin]

The Indian tycoon bidding to buy Blackburn Rovers has hit back at BBC allegations made against him last weekend.

Ahsan Ali Syed, head of Western Gulf Advisory, has released the following statement.

In response to allegations made on the BBC Radio 5 Live Investigates broadcast on 5 September 2010, please find a statement from Western Gulf Advisory (WGA):

“This report contained a number of false and misleading allegations, which have subsequently been thoroughly investigated by WGA and its advisers and are corrected below: It is true that Mr Ali rented an apartment in Bryanston Court in London but he vacated the property in a proper state having fully paid all rent.

Investigations by WGA’s legal representatives in the UK have confirmed that there is no record of outstanding council tax debts owed by Mr Ali and no evidence has been found of any congestion charge fine. In fact, in one instance Mr Ali overpaid council tax.

Mr Ali was unaware of an unpaid county court judgment, but has immediately cleared the debt and he is grateful to the BBC for bringing this to his attention.

Mr Ali was a director of two UK companies which were not trading and had no assets. Both companies were dissolved in 2006. The same is true of the Canadian companies and there is no basis to say that these companies ‘fell foul of the authorities in Canada’.

The programme incorrectly stated that Mr Ali grew up in Bhongir. In fact, Mr Ali’s family come from a different district in India called Bibinagar, albeit that both places are in the same state of Andra Pradesh. This is where Mr Ali’s family made their wealth through owning substantial agricultural land.

Mr Ali provided a forwarding address to all his business contacts after he left his London home in 2005 and any suggestion that he attempted to conceal his address is false and misleading.

The conclusions drawn in the programme regarding WGA B.S.C (Bahraini Shareholding Company)’s accounts are false and misleading and have been independently audited by BDO. Like any similar financial institution, WGA does not need to keep significant cash positions as it does not have large liabilities or operating expenses. Furthermore WGA’s Bahraini business is a separate entity to its European businesses, which are responsible for executing all of its investments.

WGA is a well capitalised business and has the sum of $850 million available in liquid assets for investment purposes. As previously stated, WGA remains committed to expanding its investment activities in the UK.

Any attempt to suggest that Mr Ali has a questionable track record in business and is therefore unsuitable to take over Blackburn Rovers is a false and damaging allegation.”

[Admin]

'Brussels sprout diamond' ring seized from builder's wife

The Irish bad debts agency has won the right to seize an 8.36 carat diamond ring said to be "the size of a small Brussels sprout".

The National Asset Management Agency (Nama) took the unprecedented step of going to court to get the ring they say is worth 150,000 euros (£129,427) as well as a necklace and bracelet.

The jewellery belongs to the wife of millionaire developer John McCabe.

In court in Dublin on Thursday the judge ruled in Nama's favour.

A receiver has been appointed.

Nama claimed Mary McCabe - the wife of property developer John McCabe - had refused to hand over the jewellery to help meet 20m euros (£17.2m) in judgements against her.

It argued that its position and that of the taxpayer would be prejudiced if the jewellery were sold.

[Admin]

Thursday February 03 2011

THE son of property tycoon Paddy Kelly has fallen behind on his mortgage payments and cannot repay a €17m debt he owes.

Simon Kelly, developer, columnist and author of the memoir ‘Breakfast with Anglo’, has offered to pay back €100 a month to lender ACC Bank.

But the developer, whose soured property loans of some €200m have been taken over by NAMA, says that it is “very difficult” on his annual income of €80,000 a year to make a meaningful difference to the €17m he owes to ACC.

Mr Kelly claims he has an annual income of €80,000 but is receiving no income from NAMA despite submitting a business plan to the bad bank.

Mr Kelly told Wicklow District Court last week some of his income came from Red Quartz, the family’s property investment vehicle; while some came from a management company he was involved in.

ACC Bank had sought an instalment order against Simon Kelly, of the Old Rectory, Dunganstown, Co Wicklow. Mr Kelly owes them €17,163,913.44 following two High Court judgments — one on May 28, 2009, and another on April 27, 2010.

The court heard “no payments had been received”.

Mr Kelly, who lives with his wife and five children in an old rectory set in five acres, told Wicklow District Court he was getting no income from NAMA.

Because of the commercial sensitivities of his dealings with NAMA, Mr Kelly applied to Judge Murrough Connellan to have the ACC application heard in private, but the judge refused.

NAMA refused to discuss Mr Kelly’s dealings with it, but a spokesperson said it “does not and will not” provide incomes to debtors.

Under cross-examination by ACC barrister Rossa Fanning, Mr Kelly said he had a credit card with Bank of Ireland and had an AIB bank account used for rent collection for five properties he had in Liverpool.

Mr Kelly said the business plan he submitted to NAMA “included an income for me”, but he said he was “in limbo” and had no idea if it would be approved.

He said he had outgoings of €120,000 per year. The court heard Mr Kelly has five children and he pays school fees of €27,000 per year.

Mr Fanning queried why Mr Kelly was not making any “provisions for payments of debts” and Mr Kelly said the €17m loan was “not my only debt”.

He said he was in arrears with his home loan.

Following a break to examine Mr Kelly’s statement of means, Judge Connellan made no order due to “lack of funds”.

[Admin]

When In Extremis nightclub opened in the Sarasota Quay at U.S. 41 and Fruitville Road in the mid-'90s, it was the epitome of excellence in nightclub design, atmosphere and operation. It was run as a no-nonsense, zero-tolerance nightclub. It enforced a strict dress code, a strict policy on behavior and it was widely regarded as the ultimate nightclub in Sarasota. The line to get in formed around the Quay.

The employees were polite, professional and projected the superb image that In Extremis represented.

Over time, management changed, the club's interior was allowed to deteriorate and the conduct rules became history. Now the club itself is nothing more than a nightmare. It is a foul, loud, rude and dangerous place to go, where anything goes.

Fights are the norm. Teen- night patrons are fanned with a wand metal detector.

The Quay situation has not helped. Its structure is in need of a face lift. The Ritz-Carlton has every right to want to have nothing to do with connecting a walkway to the Quay.

Is this about greed? The owners of In Extremis do quite well. The owners of the Quay have profited since purchasing the property. But, when it comes to patron safety and property management at night, both the club and the Quay have failed to do the right thing.

[Admin]

Declining economy compels Sarasota nightclub to close
Published: Thursday, January 24, 2008

SARASOTA COUNTY -- The party is over at Sarasota nightspot Minxx Nightclub, which shut its doors over the weekend.

Billed as an entertainment complex featuring three separate upscale clubs, the popular venue hosted rock and hip-hop concerts, and Sarasota Film Festival after-parties.

The 10,000-square-foot club, at 7111 S. Tamiami Trail, closed its doors Sunday after hosting an under-21 event.

"It's been crazy," said Jeff "Raz" Hart, the general manager and marketing and event director at Minxx.

"We knew that the patronage from the venue had been decreasing as the economy seemed to be decreasing," he said. "We stuck it out much longer, where some businesses would have closed up after the summer."

Owner Yves Lanoue declined to comment on the club's closing.

Minxx opened in June 2006, with different areas inside for different clientele -- the nightclub was for the under-30 crowd, and two rooms catered to older patrons, DaVinci's Ultra-Lounge and Mona Lisa's Champagne Room.

At Minxx's peak, during its first three months of operation, more than 2,800 partiers passed through its doors weekly, Hart said.

"We were trying to present a large venue with an upscale feel to it, but not have the pretentiousness you might find in a club in a metropolitan area," he said. "We also wanted to attract different demographics."

Attendance slowly declined, starting in 2007.

"It was great in the beginning," Hart said. "But we lost a lot of the older demographic."

Despite the downturn, Minxx was a popular entertainment destination. It hosted the Sarasota Film Festival's "Independent Visions" party last April, which featured glam-rock band Of Montreal.

The club also hosted concerts featuring Jacksonville-based alt-rock band The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, and more recently Miami rap artist Flo Rida.

The club was also an opponent to Sarasota County's ordinance to ban people under 21 from area nightspots.

Still, it was not enough to keep the doors open.

"The local economy is not supporting a lot of the local entertainment economy," said Hart, a promoter in the area since 1992.

News that several local restaurants and nightclubs had recently closed their doors, along with the fact that people seemed to holding on to their entertainment dollars, factored into the decision to shut Minxx down, Hart explained.

"Some of the obvious factors were that we were too large for the market to contain, the high rent on U.S. 41 and the economy -- it's devastating everything," he said.

[Admin]

Published: Wednesday, May 22, 2013

SARASOTA - A former owner of the Sarasota Quay testified in court Tuesday that an Irish bank wanted to squeeze him out of the $1 billion development planned for the 15-acre waterfront tract.

Sheldon Fenton, who was part of a group that sold the Quay property in late 2003 for roughly $60 million, said Anglo-Irish Bank wanted to work exclusively with Dublin developer Patrick Kelly and partners on the proposed Sarasota Bayside project.

But Bayside faltered and became a casualty of the Great Recession's real estate collapse. And Kelly's Irish American Management Services Ltd. defaulted on roughly $100 million in bank loans in 2009.

The bank filed to foreclose and seize the tract from Irish American two years ago. But Fenton and longtime business associate Rene Gareau blocked that plan, claiming they have unrecorded mortgages and liens on the property worth nearly $10 million.

Gareau's Bussoleno Ltd., a British Virgin Islands company, has $5.7 million in claims on the site.

Now, the two sides are facing off in a Sarasota Circuit Court trial that could decide the fate of one of the most valuable urban properties in Florida.

During the second day of the trial Tuesday, Fenton said the bank told Kelly it wanted him and Gareau out.

"The bank didn't want us to be involved," said Fenton, a Toronto, Canada, resident whose Quay project irked city police and residents because of raucousness in the In Extremis nightclub, a Quay tenant.

Instead, the bank preferred the "close-knit group of Irish guys," Fenton said.

Fenton also said he was "strong-armed" into selling his Quay interests to Kelly's group for less profit so Kelly could get funding for his project. But Fenton said he was ultimately satisfied with the deal, since his loans were paid off and he retained a $4.1 million note that would be paid by Kelly's group over time.

On the witness stand, Fenton sparred in testy exchanges with bank attorney David Boyette, who argued that the bank's debt is superior to the Canadians'.

Anglo-Irish Bank, which was taken over by the Irish government in 2009 amid a series of soured real estate loans, wants clear title to the former Quay site so it can sell it. Analysts say it may be worth about $20 million, or a fifth of its pre-recession value.

Also Tuesday, David Kelly, a financial executive working for Irish American and for Patrick Kelly's Redquartz Ltd. firm but not related to him, said in a deposition read in court that Gareau received more than $5 million from Kelly for living expenses over the years.

"They had been funding his lifestyle," David Kelly said in his deposition.

David Kelly also said Patrick Kelly "felt extremely let down" by Gareau's actions.

Gareau later disputed that testimony.

[Admin]

Published: Friday, May 24, 2013

SARASOTA - A foreclosure lawsuit over the former Sarasota Quay property was settled in mid-trial, paving the way to finally sell the bayfront tract for future development.

Irish Bank Resolution Corp., the successor to lender Anglo-Irish Bank, reached a settlement with the two groups that claimed to have unrecorded mortgages and liens on the 15-acre site, attorneys said Friday.

Terms of the settlement are confidential, the lawyers said. Sarasota Circuit Court Judge Charles Williams has approved it but has yet to formally issue an order.

Attorney Paul Shelowitz, who represented the lender, said the property — once eyed for a $1 billion residential and commercial project — will be put up for sale.

[Admin]

Published: Thursday, January 9, 2014

SARASOTA - The terms of the deal have not been finalized, but it appears a Jacksonville development company is poised to buy one of downtown's premier properties — the former Sarasota Quay.

GreenPointe Holdings LLC, which has been buying distressed developments in Florida at rapid clip since 2010, sent its president to meet with Sarasota's city manager earlier this week.

An email message from the firm's attorney to Sarasota Mayor Shannon Snyder confirms that GreenPointe intends to buy the 14-acre, waterfront property between the Ritz-Carlton Sarasota and the Hyatt Regency.

The former Quay land has been vacant since early 2007, when an Irish developer razed the nine-story Quay as part of $1 billion plan to develop the site with hundreds of condominiums, retail space and restaurants, a hotel and offices.

Developer Irish American Management Services Ltd. was unable to bring its plan to fruition when the local real estate market collapsed. In August, a successor to lender Anglo-Irish Bank PLC seized the property through foreclosure.

Anglo-Irish was absorbed by an Irish government entity established to deal with soured real estate loans. In the case of the Quay, Irish American had amassed roughly $100 million in debt on the property.

[Admin]

Officer/RA Name: Entity Name: Entity Number

GAREAU, RENE ROST, INC. F07302
GAREAU, RENE SKYWAY INN, INCORPORATED K90886
GAREAU, RENE SARASOTA QUAY BUSINESS SUITES, INC. P96000065605
GAREAU, RENE A ROST, INC. F07302
GAREAU, RENE A REEMARK SKYWAY INN, INCORPORATED K90885
GAREAU, RENE A REEMARK SKYWAY INN, INCORPORATED K90885
GAREAU, RENE A. SKYWAY INN, INCORPORATED K90886
GAREAU, RENE A. TOWNE CENTRE SOUTH CORP. L23119
GAREAU, RENE A. MONTECITO APARTMENTS, INC. L36229
GAREAU, RENE A. PELICAN SOUND APARTMENTS, INC. L36232
GAREAU, RENE A. REEMARK PELICAN SOUND APARTMENTS, INC. L37213
GAREAU, RENE A. REEMARK HOLDINGS NO. 1, INC. L70311
GAREAU, RENE A. REEMARK TRUSTEE NO. 1, INC. L70379
GAREAU, RENE A. REEMARK PELICAN SOUND TRUSTEE, INC. L70382
GAREAU, RENE A. REEMARK MONTECITO TRUSTEE, INC. L81378
GAREAU, RENE A. REEMARK MONTECITO, INC. L81380
GAREAU, RENE A. REEMARK HOLDINGS NO. 3, INC. L96192
GAREAU, RENE A. REEMARK HOLDINGS NO. 2, INC. L96194
GAREAU, RENE A MONTECITO CONDOMINIUM OWNERS' ASSOCIATION, INC. N39911
GAREAU, RENE A PELICAN SOUND CONDOMINIUM OWNERS' ASSOCIATION, INC. N39912
GAREAU, RENE A VILLA SIENA CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION, INC. N99000001149
GAREAU, RENE A VERIDIEN CORPORATION P35266
GAREAU, RENE A VERIDIEN CORPORATION P35266
GAREAU, RENE A. PACIFIC HOLDINGS, INC. P94000042942
GAREAU, RENE A. PACIFIC HOLDINGS, INC. P94000042942
GAREAU, RENE A DELAVAN ENTERTAINMENT, INC. P94000047049
GAREAU, RENE A DELAVAN ENTERTAINMENT, INC. P94000047049
GAREAU, RENE A SARASOTA QUAY BUSINESS SUITES, INC. P96000065605
GAREAU, RENE A. REEMARK LEASING (FLORIDA), INC. S01076

[Admin]

The Sarasota land owned by Mr Kelly became the subject of legal action more than a year ago. Irish American Management Services (IAM), the company behind the planned development of the site, was backed by Mr Kelly, John McCabe of McCabe Construction, and John Walsh, a long-time investment partner of Mr Kelly. Legal action was taken by Bussoleno, registered in the British Virgin Islands, seeking foreclosure in January last year on mortgages it granted IAM for parcels of land at Sarasota. Bussoleno claimed that IAM was delinquent on $7.7m in loans.

This week, Bussoleno brought a legal action in Ireland against the three men to enforce a $5.77m judgment granted in the dispute by a court in Florida. Legal representatives for Bussoleno told the Commercial Court that the company was concerned that Mr Kelly was subject to debt-recovery proceedings and that he had said his liabilities may exceed his assets.

Bussoleno is a trust for the children of Rene Gareau, a Canadian citizen who had a 40-year friendship with Mr Kelly. The pair had been holidaying in Sardinia in 1999 when the Mr Gareau asked Mr Kelly if he would like to invest in the Sarasota project.

[Admin]

Published: Friday, July 27, 2012 at 1:00 a.m.

SARASOTA - A three-year legal imbroglio over the implosion of the $1 billion Proscenium project ended this week when a district court judge ruled decisively in favor of developer Zeb Portanova.

Circuit Court Judge Lee Haworth's ruling on Wednesday also provides a measure of vindication for Portanova, the scion of an Eli Lilly pharmaceutical fortune, who claimed to have lost $11 million on the downtown real estate deal.

Haworth denied claims by husband-and-wife developers Gary Moyer and Karen Cook, Portanova's one-time partners in the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel-anchored project, who said in a 2009 lawsuit that Portanova reneged on $15 million in payments to them.

In a final judgment to the case, Haworth concluded that the 18-story project's inability to obtain financing ended Portanova's responsibility to make the payments.

When the real estate market turned sour, the two sides became responsible for their own losses, but not one another's, the judge concluded.

The judge also denied Moyer and Cook's efforts to win punitive damages from Portanova, along with their allegations of breach of contract, fraud, negligent misrepresentation and civil conspiracy.

"The evidence in the record is insufficient to establish any wrongful acts or any lawful acts by unlawful means," the judge wrote.

The judge tossed all 11 counts against Portanova and companies he controlled.

Portanova's attorneys reiterated their contention Thursday that the 2009 lawsuit by Moyer and Cook was without merit.

"The lawsuit was a meritless attempt by Mr. Moyer and Ms. Cook to extricate themselves from their personal financial problems," Portanova attorney Kelli Edson, of Tampa, wrote in an email.

"The judge's decision vindicates Mr. Portanova's integrity and his business practices in all respects."

Moyer has said he and his wife spent more than $1 million on Proscenium, hiring consultants and making deals with landowners.

The developer said Thursday that he plans to appeal the ruling to a higher court.

"We're combing through the decision but, simply put, we think the judge got it wrong," Moyer said. "And that's what the appellate process is for. We're disappointed, but we still have a deep conviction of what the final outcome will be."

Though Haworth's ruling unequivocally went in Portanova's favor, the judge did reject his claim, from 2011, that Moyer and Cook embezzled $531,000 from Proscenium accounts.

The judge's ruling follows a July 9 hearing in which he postponed a pending trial until October. With the ruling, the trial will not be held.

The judge also threw out the couple's claim that Portanova, who told Moyer he was worth $35 million, according to a deposition in the case, had "fraudulently induced" them to amend a November 2008 agreement that bought them out of the project, which was to include high-end retailers, luxury condos and a Broadway-styled theater.

In his ruling, Haworth pointed to a May 3, 2009, email Moyer wrote to Portanova weeks before the amended agreement was signed.

In it, Moyer claims Proscenium's supposed land financiers, Nancy Edwards and Greencastle Asset Management, both of Atlanta, were running a "confidence game" to get $1 million in seed capital.

"There is no doubt in my mind that she (Nancy Edwards) never intended to fund the $15.0mm and that she, in collusion with Kim (King, of Greencastle Asset Management), played a confidence game with you in order to part you from your $1.0mm," Moyer's email stated.

"Has it not yet occurred to you that this may have been a fraud, perpetrated by Nancy and Kim in conspiracy with each other?" Moyer asked.

"If this is what happened I suspect it would violate the RICO Act, a most serious criminal act. In addition, based upon Kevin McQuaid's independent research on them, they have misrepresented their educational and work experience, I suspect, to further assist them in advancing their scheme," the email continued, referring to a series of Herald-Tribune articles about the financiers' backgrounds.

Edwards and Greencastle ultimately failed to deliver a promised $70 million in financing for Proscenium. Greencastle at least initially refused to return the $1 million to Portanova, and a Georgia court ruled Edwards owed Portanova for failing to repay a $500,000 loan and more than $50,000 charged to his personal credit card.

Haworth noted that Moyer was clearly skeptical of the financiers and, therefore, could not have been fraudulently induced.

Darren Inverso, Moyer and Cook's attorney, called the original agreement "an absolute obligation" for Portanova to pay his clients.

But Haworth, citing the May 3 email, disagreed.

"It is beyond dispute that prior to May 30, 2009, plaintiffs were well aware of the unreliability of Greencastle Asset Management and the remote prospects of it performing," Haworth wrote.

[Admin]

12/06/2012

Robert E. Atkinson is the attorney of record for Kelly Murphy, and in my opinion, a co-conspirator with Murphy, who is a felon, convicted and sentenced to prison for bank fraud, and who has been evicted from two of his venues -- Copa and Boys Lounge -- is bouncing employee paychecks, can't pay the $80,000 it will take to open his latest venture, Krave Massive, and still owes $80,000 in restitution for the bank fraud conviction. Atkinson is, by association and extension, a business associate of Murphy's because of the work he does for him. Atkinson's name also was on the eviction order posting on the front door of Copa.

Atkinson is complicit in assisting Kelly Murphy with doing things like recruiting people as "straw men" to use them to arrange for things like getting liquor licenses for Murphy, who is unable to legally obtain a such a license under Nevada state law because of his past felony convictions.

A match made in heaven, eh?

Atkinson's tax lien, courtesy of the IRS, totals almost $50,000 -- $46,227 to be exact -- from more than seven years ago. How exactly do you get away with that for seven years? Atkinson and Murphy: birds of a feather? You be the judge.



It's HUGE: Krave Massive Aims to Become the Largest Gay Nightclub in the World
Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Two months ago, Eater Vegas reported that Krave would be ending its lease at the Miracle Mile Shops and moving downtown. This morning, that came true when the largest gay nightclub in Nevada announced it was relocating to the former Galaxy 11 multiplex at Neonopolis.

Called Krave Massive, the club dubs itself the largest gay nightclub in the world, taking up 101,000 square feet. Five themed dance rooms — covering house, top 40, hip-hop, country and Latin music — will be created inside. A martini lounge, a members-only VIP lounge called Indulge Private Lounge, Tickled Pink comedy club, a performing arts theater, an LGBT movie theater, a retail store and a lesbians-only dance lounge are among the proposed venues within the club. There’s even talk of a 20,000-square-foot pool being built in front of the club, complete with cabanas.

Owner Kelly Murphy says the club will ideally open by the end of November or early December, with sections of the nightclub opening as they become available. Krave at the Miracle Mile Shops will close when the new club is opened, or even two weeks beforehand, Murphy says.

“My clientele, they’re very location driven,” Murphy says of the move to Downtown Las Vegas. “I don't have to be on the Strip to get that kind of clientele.”

The original Krave could be considered a pioneer on the LGBT front, opening the first gay nightclub on the Strip in 2004. The club draws 4,500 guests weekly. Drink and Drag Lounge, the bowling alley and nightclub staffed by 24 drag queens at Neonopolis and also owned by Murphy, brings in about 4,000 a week. Murphy estimates about 12,000 customers a week coming to Krave Massive.

Murphy also gave some recon on his new Boys, a Social Lounge, a hipster lounge he plans to build in the Fruit Loop at 4640 Paradise Road inside the former Desires Ultra Lounge. He says it will have a hipster feel with hardwood floors and artwork from Tim Burton. It will also be a nonsmoking venue with shuttle buses to Krave Massive.



21st of Jan, 2013
Well, it's official. Convicted felon, Kelly Murphy, owner of Krave, has the run of the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino. His Krave nightclub idea, catering to the LGBT crowd both living in Las Vegas as well as tourists visiting Vegas, has partnered with Rio and opened up Krave Rio. It debuted this past weekend (Friday and Saturday nights, Jan. 18 & 19). We're still scratching our heads as to how a man convicted of bank fraud and who served 16 months in jail on the charge, in addition to owing more than $75,000 in restitution as a result of the conviction, can slip into the Rio and past the Nevada Gaming Commission to open this place. People are just not paying attention. Does anyone know if Kelly Murphy, as the law requires, has registered as a felon with the state of Nevada? Is anyone curious how Murphy has been able to hide his past – the felony conviction, the prison term, the non-payment of restitution, the evictions of his other clubs (Copa and Boys Lounge) for non-payment of rent, the bouncing employee checks at his other LGBT place, Drink & Drag? I sure am! Murphy must have some seriously damaging video of some big-time VIP that he's using to blackmail them with … we can't figure out another explanation. All this background is out there; it's all available to anyone who cares to plug his name and his clubs' names into Google and run a simple search.



Thu, Jan 10, 2013 (midnight)
Nightclub owner Kelly Murphy wants to turn Las Vegas into the next big gay destination, and with his current projects nearing completion, the city just might be poised to snatch that title from New York and San Francisco.

“The largest gay club in the world, I think, is probably going to make that happen,” says Murphy, referring to Krave Massive, the gay megaclub that he’s opening at Neonopolis this spring after closing the original Krave on the Strip last year.

The 80,000-square-foot Downtown venue isn’t just drinks and a dancefloor. It’s a multifaceted entertainment complex with the potential to diversify and enrich the local LGBT scene. In addition to multiple themed dance rooms, Krave Massive will include two movie theaters showing mainstream, gay-themed movies (through a partnership with Guest House Films); Tickled Pink, a comedy club, which will book gay and gay-friendly comedians; and a showroom with its very own resident striptease production geared toward gay men, Boots & Boys.

“It will be everything everybody imagined and stuff that they couldn’t even imagine,” Murphy says.

And as if the world’s largest gay club (Murphy even tried to get the Guinness people out to confirm) wasn’t enough, the businessman is also opening Boys’ Lounge in Las Vegas’ gay Fruit Loop neighborhood, expecting to wrap up construction next month on the space that he describes as more of a “cool social gathering place” than a hard-and-heavy dance club. The non-smoking venue will have an outdoor patio and a mostly vegetarian food menu.

“I think it’ll be really good,” Murphy says. “I thought of a place where I’d go hang out and eat.”

We think that sounds pretty good, too. Save us a plate of tofu.



LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

A club operator who breezed into Las Vegas with great fanfare saw his alcohol license applications denied with nary a whimper on Wednesday after months of turmoil at his downtown businesses.

The city council voted 6-0 to deny tavern license applications by club owner Kelly Murphy for the Krave Massive and Drink and Drag nightclubs in the Neonopolis mall on Fremont Street.

“I want nothing to do with anything Mr. Murphy has his hands attached to,” said Councilman Ricki Barlow, whose ward includes the clubs.

The votes mean Murphy can no longer sell booze from the clubs, though it means little for Krave Massive, which was once billed as world’s largest gay nightclub but has been closed for several weeks due to a tax dispute with the state.

Drink and Drag, which an employee said has about 50 workers, will receive orders to cease and desist booze sales within 24 hours, said city business licensing manager Karen Duddlesten.

Murphy, who last year opened the businesses with glitzy parties and high-profile support from Mayor Carolyn Goodman, didn’t show up for the council meeting where he was scheduled to appear for suitability reviews for the tavern licenses.

Duddlesten said Murphy denied he was still an owner but there wasn’t adequate documentation to verify who does own the businesses.

In addition to promoting the club in public, Goodman urged city staff to help Murphy apply for a $50,000 city grant to help offset renovation costs. The council unanimously approved the grant in January without asking any questions despite a blank spot on the application where the applicant was asked to certify the project was free of liens and current on federal, state and local taxes.

In a written statement after the meeting Goodman responded to a question about whether or not she regretted promoting the club.

“I am a big supporter of downtown and anyone who wants to invest in this area,” the statement read. “Unfortunately, there have been some licensing issues with Krave Massive. I fully support the concept behind Krave Massive and the desire to bring something new and exciting to diversify our city, and I hope that a new ownership group is able to fulfill the promise of this great idea.”

In her report to the council Wednesday Duddlesten recommended denial of the tavern applications based on criteria in city code that includes an application with incomplete, false, misleading or fraudulent statements.

Council members and city officials said during discussion of the items that Murphy and his businesses racked up nearly $730,000 in unpaid bills, including about $700,000 in state taxes plus $29,000 in city sewer and liquor fees.

Council members also recently received a letter from a former manager for Murphy who told of bounced payroll checks, returned checks from vendors and liquor law violations.

“The owner, his assistant, general manager or accounting supervisor at this time, should not be able to hold a liquor license in the City of Las Vegas due to the way they have handled the temporary license that has been issued and renewed over the last 18 months,” former Krave executive Eric Peterson wrote to council members and city officials. “They are not ‘above the law,’ yet seem to think that they can do as they please and the City Council will do as they ask.”

Before the vote one of Murphy’s former business partners and a manager at Drink and Drag asked the council to grant the licenses despite the problems.

Sia Amiri, Murphy’s partner in the former Krave nightclub on the Strip, said Murphy had signed the Krave Massive license over to him. He said Murphy owes him $850,000, and asked the council to allow the license to remain valid so he could sell the club to recover some of the money he is owed.

“This is just one way of recouping some of my losses,” Amiri said.

“We all have to stand in line to figure out how we are going to get our money,” Barlow said.

Matthew Greppin, who identified himself as a Drink and Drag manager, said he had an agreement to acquire the club from Murphy and operate it himself.

“I’ve seen the numbers. I know the amount of money it can make,” Greppin said. “I know I can keep it going as a legitimate business.”

Greppin said the agreement with Murphy included $600,000 in liabilities and a $500,000 promissory note.

“His debts might be rather large because he has a tendency not to pay things,” Councilman Bob Coffin told Greppin. “I frankly wouldn’t have assumed dime one of his obligations.”

Although the downtown clubs had been the subject of complaints by employees and vendors who cited bounced checks and improper bookkeeping, Murphy kept looking for investors to keep the operations afloat.

In March Murphy hyped the June 15 opening of Krave Massive and announced a partnership with the Downtown Project, a $350 million urban renewal program funded largely by the personal wealth of Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh.

In August ,when the state closed Krave Massive, the Downtown Project said it was negotiating to acquire the entire business.

But no one from the Downtown Project spoke during the licensing review Wednesday and it wasn’t mentioned as a potential buyer during the discussion.

Todd Kessler, an attorney for RGG, a real estate partner with the Downtown Project, was at the meeting to testify on another Downtown Project license application but declined comment on the status of Murphy’s clubs.

Other Downtown Project leaders did not respond to requests for comment.

As for the money owed to the city, spokeswoman Diana Paul said the property owner, FAEC Holdings Wirrulla LLC, is ultimately responsible for the sewer bills. If the account isn’t brought current a penalty will be added to the bill Oct. 20. If it isn’t paid by Nov. 25 the city will attach a lien to the parcel, Paul said.



November 13, 2013/in Las Vegas, News /by NightclubHallofFame
Vegas Nightclub Owner Refused Entry Into His Nightclub. A troubled Las Vegas nightclub operator who once had the ear of the city’s mayor and money from a high-profile downtown investor is locked out of his former businesses by the landlord.

Kelly Murphy, owner of Phantom Entertainment, lost a challenge in Las Vegas Justice Court Monday put forth in an opposition to summary eviction from FAEC Holding Wirrulla, LLC, owner of the Neonopolis shopping and nightlife center at 450 Fremont St. and a motion for expedited relief. The failed challenge means the landlord can keep Murphy from accessing the former Krave and Drink and Drag nightclubs, which a document filed with the court says have racked up more than $223,000 in unpaid bills.

That’s in addition to the reported $700,000 in debt to the state that prompted the Department of Taxation to close down Krave in late August. Earlier this month the City Council unanimously voted against extending tavern licenses for Murphy’s clubs, citing a litany of unpaid bills and a failure to deliver the information needed to complete the licensing process. Now Murphy can’t even access the approximately 100,000 square feet of space he once controlled on the second and third floors of Neonopolis, a shopping and entertainment plaza that’s struggled to attract tenants and foot traffic despite its location at Fremont Street and Las Vegas Boulevard.

“The bottom line is these guys … they have been in default with me since they opened,” Neonopolis operator Rohit Joshi said. “When those two (clubs) closed we had to send a final notice, either they cure the default or have it shut down.” Murphy challenged the eviction in court, saying the amount he owed listed in the documents is wrong and that the landlord failed to honor promises. But the court denied the tenant’s complaint for expedited relief. Judge Melissa Saragosa said at $500,000 the value of personal property at issue in the case exceeds the jurisdiction of the Las Vegas Justice Court.

“The court said they can’t come back to the premises, it belongs to us,” Joshi said. Dale Hayes, an attorney for Murphy and Phantom Entertainment, did not respond to messages seeking comment. Murphy’s nightclub businesses unraveled despite connections with the city’s political and business elite and hopes they would become a cornerstone of downtown nightlife. Beginning last year he cultivated a personal pipeline to Mayor Carolyn Goodman who helped him navigate his way to receiving a $50,000 grant of public money through a program aimed at helping businesses renovate old buildings, despite warnings from staff members that the nightclub operator had filed bankruptcy and might not have a sustainable business plan.

Murphy also received a boost of capital from the Downtown Project, an urban investment vehicle funded largely by Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh. The investment from Hsieh’s group became known after workers, vendors and former high-ranking officers in Murphy’s companies revealed the operation was in financial disarray that included bounced paychecks and bookkeeping irregularities, among other problems.

Investment from Hsieh’s group prompted hope that Krave, which had been billed as the world’s largest gay nightclub, would get back on track and succeed. While Krave managed to open in June, it didn’t last long. The state shut the doors in late August and Drink and Drag closed earlier this month after the city failed to grant a tavern license approval. Downtown Project spokeswoman Kim Schaefer downplayed the group’s involvement with the businesses when asked to respond to the evictions and allegations of unpaid bills. “We have been, and continue to be, a minority owner and passive investor in the business. Any questions should be directed to the majority owner and manager of the business,” Schaefer wrote in an email.



Sept 10 2004
Nightclub impresario Sia Amiri launches KRAVE -- the first alternative lifestyle nightclub on the Las Vegas Strip and the largest OMNI-SEXUAL club in Vegas. Located at the corner of Las Vegas Blvd. and Harmon Ave. (adjacent to the Aladdin), Krave premieres the weekend of October 1, 2004.

At a time when the gay and lesbian traveler represents a 54 billion dollar market, Amiri remarks, "This will be THE avant garde gay club on the Strip to bring your metrosexual friends to -- the OMNI-SEXUAL G-SPOT!" ("G" as in Guys, Girls, GAY!)

KRAVE has enlisted the talents of world-renowned event producer Jeffrey Sanker to present and promote the club to this targeted group. The first series of events, to be held each Saturday night beginning October 2, is called "Everything You Desire." Mr. Amiri, CEO and owner of Krave, best known as the former owner of RAGE, West Hollywood's landmark gay bar, has brought in Sanker, "the high priest of gay parties," to help him make history once again with the first gay hotspot to ever hit the world-famous Vegas Strip.

Amiri added, "It's a place to give in to your inner-most desires with music from the world's most sought after DJ's, astonishing state-of-the art lighting and sound, tantalizing restaurant and bar areas, and electrifying live entertainment -- all ignited inside a captivating, intriguing and sensual interior."

Always known for pushing the envelope, Sanker's worldwide events have always been on the cutting edge, long before "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" and "Will and Grace" ever hit the mainstream airwaves. Says Sanker, "Your fantasy can now be your reality at KRAVE!"

The opening of Krave is the latest endeavor for Amiri, who has been responsible for some of Los Angeles' and Las Vegas' most popular nightclubs and restaurants, including: Chez Moi/Beverly Hills, Wave Restaurant & Bar, Beverly Center/L.A., Crustacean Restaurant/Beverly Hills and Prana/Crustacean Restaurant and Nightclub/Las Vegas.

For Sanker it was inevitable that he would add his signature sizzle to the world-famous Las Vegas Strip. After all, CitySearch.com raved: "Jeffrey Sanker is to parties what Martha Stewart is to obsessive holiday decorating."

John Stagliano's FASHIONISTAS -- created exclusively for KRAVE -- will perform six nights weekly, Monday-Saturday from 8 p.m.-9:30 p.m., pushing the envelope of human form, fashion and spectacle in high style.

[Admin]

C.O.S. Bulk (London) Limited and Intrasped (London) Limited are connected.

Lawyer for Intrasped is Anthony Maurice Seddon, of Woolf Seddon (now Seddons)

Anthony Maurice Seddon was employed as Secretary at INTRASPED (LONDON) LIMITED from 12 February 1996 to 11 September 1998

After the fall of the iron curtain Seddons became the first western law firm to set up business in Prague; we remained in Prague for 14 years before closing our offices in 2006. We retain close business and client relationships in the Czech Republic.

Liam Lawlor, a member of the Trilateral Commission, did business in the Czech Republic and employed Tony Seddon as his lawyer.

Liam Lawlor appeared before the Mahon Tribunal. In 2003, Seddon was also called to appear before the Tribunal.

Lawlor was killed on 22 October 2005, when the Mercedes-Benz car he was being driven in on the way from Sheremetyevo International Airport crashed into a concrete street light on the Leningrad Shosse, the main road between Saint Petersburg and Moscow.