OK, latest installment on the weirdness that is the CMG and Flash Developments story courtesy of the Sunday Business Post.
Mr. Maguire claims he's given the deposits back to the agency selling the property but it was never passed back to the investors - Anthony Joyce (solicitor) says there is no evidence to suggest that he did any such thing. Joyce also says most of the money was paid directly to Flash Developments, which Maguire denies.
KPMG (Flash Liquidators) also claim that Maguire has no title in CV, which he denies vehemently - but still appears incapable of producing documentation to prove ownership. Very strange stuff.
Note, there are no claims of this being a €1.8 billion Resort anymore.
Dublin-based businessman Ciarán Maguire, who is being sued by a group of investors in a €100 million resort in Cape Verde, has claimed that he refunded their deposits to the sales agency but that the money has not been passed on to the investors.
Maguire told The Sunday Business Post that he had been in discussions with Dublin solicitor Anthony Joyce, who is representing the group who have lodged a class action in the High Court against Maguire and his company, the Ciaran Maguire Group.
They are seeking immediate repayment of their deposits. Maguire claims that the investors represented by Joyce bought through a sales agency and not through him or his companies.
‘‘I refunded the agency. Now, unfortunately, that was never recycled back," said Maguire.
‘‘I’ve a very, very clear paper trail to show I’ve actually paid the agency back."
However, Joyce said the case would be proceeding until all monies were repayed to his clients.
He said that ‘‘a number of clients had paid small deposits to an agency, but they paid the remaining monies to Flash Developments’’, another company controlled by Maguire.
‘‘We’ve seen no paperwork to suggest Maguire had refunded any money to the agency," said Joyce.
Flash Developments collapsed into liquidation last May, and the High Court ordered an investigation into the company, after evidence emerged that it had used deposits from buyers to finance the running of the firm.
Court documents also include claims that the company did not have title to land in Cape Verde, but Maguire continues to claim that he has title to the land.
‘‘I’ve subsequently been liaising with KPMG, and they are now happy that Ciaran Maguire Group does have the contracts in place with the Cape Verde government and does have the relevant title on the land in Boa Vista," he told The Sunday Business Post.
But liquidator Kieran Wallace of KMPG said that this was not the case. ‘‘We have no evidence whatsoever to date that Maguire has title on any land in Cape Verde," Wallace told this newspaper.
‘‘We understand that he put a lot of money down on two plots of land through Flash Developments and never got title.
There’s no paperwork to show title on any land.
We’ve seen no proof that he’s repaid any monies."
However, Maguire insists that the Ciaran Maguire Group is continuing to build the Palm View development of 400 apartments and villas on the island of Boa Vista. He said that construction on the 111-acre plot had begun, and that completions were expected by December 2011.
According to Maguire, 300 units have been sold off the plans in the first phase of the scheme, with prices ranging from €50,000 up to €865,000.
