Joint Liquidators Appointed Over Argyle Limited

Pursuant to a Court Order made by the Supreme Court of Gibraltar, Joint Liquidators have been appointed over Argyle Limited — a Gibraltar entity which is linked to the situation involving the missing $18 million.

$18 Million Loan Not Paid Back

MIF, an overseas company, extended an $18 million loan to Par-la-Ville Hotel and Residences Ltd [PLV], with the Corporation of Hamilton apparently signing on as the guarantor.

PLV was supposed to develop a hotel on the Par-La-Ville car park, and the $18 million was a bridging loan which was supposed to be used to secure financing for the hotel development.

The loan was supposed to be be repaid in December 2014, however it was not paid back resulting in MIF initiating legal action against PLV principal Michael MacLean and the Corporation.

The police previously confirmed they are conducting a “criminal investigation into an allegation of misappropriation of funds amounting to approximately $18 million,” and, in January 2016, confirmed that a 41-year-old man “has been arrested on suspicion of theft.”

Since this occurred, the CoH has been through an election and is now being run by a new administration, and they have filed an application with the Courts asking that the consent order of the Chief Justice ordering the payment of the $18 million guarantee be overturned.

Minister Michael Fahy has previously said that “it appears that a substantial sum of the bridging loan was at some point paid to a company registered in Gibraltar called Argyle Limited as a fee to get access to a large line of credit to develop the financing for the hotel and residences development.”

KPMG Statement

The statement from KPMG said, “As has been previously reported, Mike Morrison and Charles Thresh, both of KPMG Advisory Limited, were appointed as Joint Provisional Liquidators of Par-la-Ville Hotels & Residences Limited on October 9, 2015 by the Supreme Court of Bermuda.

“Subsequent to that appointment, Mike Morrison and Charles Thresh were appointed as Joint Receivers of Shane Mora and Mathew Hollis in their capacity as Trustees of the Skyline Trust by the Supreme Court of Bermuda on October 21, 2015.

“On July 1, 2016, Charles Thresh, of KPMG Advisory Limited in Bermuda, and Samuel Moses Vidal Cohen, of Benady Cohen & Co Limited in Gibraltar, were appointed as Joint Liquidators of Argyle Limited, a Gibraltar entity, pursuant to a Court Order made by the Supreme Court of Gibraltar.

“As matters pertaining the affairs of the above Companies and Trust are subject to litigation and are commercially sensitive, the aforementioned appointees are not in a position to make further comment at this time.”

#BermudaPolitics #Missing$18M

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