UK authorities studying MacCann report on Bula

The British Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Jersey Financial Services Commission are studying the MacCann report on Bula Resources.

The troubled resources company, which lost £12.3 million in a Russian oil deal at the centre of the MacCann investigation, is listed on the Dublin and London stock exchanges.

A Jersey based corporate services company, Chamonix Corporate Secretaries Ltd, run by Ms Sue Ann Neil, also played a key part in the ill-fated deal. It acted for the former Bula chairman and chief executive, Mr Jim Stanley, in relation to share transactions associated with the affair.

The Government-appointed inspector, Mr Lyndon MacCann, found that Ms Neil acted on the instructions of Mr Stanley when she paid out various sums of money from the proceeds of the sale of 27.8 million Bula shares. The greater part of the money went to Mr Stanley and members of his family. The ownership of these shares was the primary issue into which Mr MacCann had to inquire. Ms Neil told Mr MacCann she sold the shares on the instructions of Mr Stanley. The total amount received, including interest, was £663,197 sterling.

Ms Neil's company represented the British Virgin Islands company, Mir Oil, which received 101 million Bula shares as part of the 1995 Russian deal organised by Mr Stanley. Ms Neil told Bula at the time that Mir was owned by a South African businessman. However, the company was really owned by Mr Stanley and had been formed by Ms Neil at his request.

Mr MacCann said in his report that Ms Neil was deliberately obstructive of an investigation carried out by an advocate appointed as an inspector by the Jersey authorities at the request of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment in Dublin.

Evidence gathered by the Jersey inspector from Ms Neil led to Mr MacCann concluding that Mr Stanley had at all times been the beneficial owner of Mir Oil and of the shares transferred by Bula.

The British DTI also appointed an inspector to conduct inquiries for Mr MacCann following a request from the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment.

In the past the DTI has referred cases of suspected fraud to the British Serious Fraud Office. But a spokesman for that office said they had not received any complaint in relation to Bula.

The Irish Stock Exchange is also examining the MacCann report and is likely to issue a response to the Tanaiste, Ms Harney, within a matter of weeks. Ms Harney referred the report to the Exchange when it was presented to her late last month. The Exchange has sought, and been granted, an extension of the time within which it was asked to respond to Ms Harney.

The Stock Exchange has the power to cancel or suspend a company's listing, or to issue a public censure, if it finds that a company has contravened its rules. These include the making of related party declarations and the publication of information which might affect the price of a company's shares.