Report accuses Trilogy pair of 'reckless trading'

A complaint of reckless trading has been lodged with the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement against the failed company behind the Trilogy tennis tournament and fashion show held in the RDS last December.

Creditors of Collins-McCarthy Promotions Ltd, fronted by former tennis player Mr Sean Collins-McCarthy, have made the complaint on the basis of figures contained in a confidential liquidator's report compiled last month.

Collins-McCarthy Promotions went into liquidation in March, owing more than €3.6 million to creditors of Trilogy.

Liquidator Mr Tom Kavanagh's report, seen by The Irish Times, shows that following the end of the Trilogy event on December 7th, 2002, €250,000 was paid to investors out of a total €566,639 paid out of the company's account. At this time, the event had generated €573,845.

In November 2002, Collins-McCarthy Promotions had projected that Trilogy would generate an income of €5,193,570 and would cost €2,383,280 to run.

When the liquidator, Mr Tom Kavanagh, was called in on March 28th, 2003, he discovered that the actual costs of the event had more than doubled to €5,838,030 and only €573,845 had been generated through tickets sold before the event.

Sixty creditors, including tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams, Anna Kournikova and Irish PR company Bill O'Herlihy Communications, are still owed a total of €3,619,746 by Collins-McCarthy Promotions.

One creditor, Mr Alan Gannon, whose company Front Line Security is owed €37,000, said he has made the complaint of reckless trading on the grounds that he believes that the company continued to trade after it become insolvent. "The promoters should be liable for their debts by virtue of the fact that they knew the event couldn't pay. This is obvious from the accounts."

Mr Gannon is a member of the creditors' inspection committee. It is understood that a number of other creditors have also lodged complaints with the Director of Corporate Enforcement, Mr Paul Appleby. Mr Appleby is currently investigating the complaint and could ultimately refer the matter to the High Court.

Trilogy was originally advertised last October as a three-part event, involving a tennis tournament, a fashion show and a pop concert. Tickets were priced between €70 and €550 and Chernobyl Children's Project was to benefit from the profits.

The event was promoted by the then 22-year-old Mr Collins McCarthy and a school friend, Mr Ciaran Duggan.

With just three weeks to go before the event, Mr Duggan admitted on RTÉ's Liveline show that no pop act had been secured, although he promised that an "A- list" act would be on the bill.

In the end, the pop concert never happened and Trilogy went ahead as a two-pronged tennis tournament and fashion show in the RDS from December 5th to 7th.

The events attracted strong audience numbers, with approximately 11,500 seats filled out of a capacity of 17,100 over the three days. However, many tickets were complimentary and only €573,845 was taken in actual seat sales.

Trilogy had cost more than €5.5 million. €1.65 million had been spent on the tennis players' fees, with the Williams sisters accounting for €500,000 of that.

When the creditors came for their money in January, they were told they would be paid in a matter of weeks. They weren't. Subsequent attempts to contact Mr Collins-McCarthy failed, Mr Gannon said. Anna Kournikova's representative have threatened legal proceedings against Mr Collins- McCarthy.

The tennis player had promised €25,000 of her fee to be given to to the Chernobyl Children's Project. The charity never received this money.

Mr Collins-McCarthy could not be contacted for comment last night.