Four former board members of Derry City Football Club have been disqualified from serving as company directors.
The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (DETI) has accepted disqualification undertakings from the four in respect of their conduct as directors of Wellvan Enterprises Limited.
Patrick McDaid (36), of St. John’s Park – the former chairperson of the club – has been disqualified for nine years.
The other three directors – Peter Leonard (48), of Oakbridge Park, Joseph William Doherty (54), of Grangemore Park, and Francis Houston (49), of Kildrum Gardens – have been disqualified for six years.
The company traded as Derry City Football Club and went into administration on 20 November 2009 with estimated total assets available for preferential creditors of £380,000, liabilities to preferential creditors of £45,866, liabilities to unsecured creditors of £1,648,156, and an estimated deficiency as regards creditors of £1,314,022. After taking into account the losses incurred by members (the shareholders) of the Company the total estimated deficiency was £1,434,522. The Company subsequently went into liquidation on 10 November 2010.
Proceedings are continuing against another two directors.
The Department accepted the disqualification undertakings from Patrick McDaid, Joseph William Doherty and Francis Houston on 24 October 2013 and from Peter Leonard on 25 October 2013 based on the following unfit conduct which solely for the purposes of the disqualification procedure was not disputed: causing and permitting improper use of dual contracts in respect of participation in the League of Ireland by causing and permitting both the continued use of pre-existent sham contracts and the submission of other new sham contracts to the FAI in an attempt to circumvent the requirements of a protocol designed, inter alia, to prevent financial mismanagement of football clubs;
:: Causing and permitting the Company to fail to secure an apartment for a prize in the development draw, by failing to ring fence funds for that purpose and failing to account for same to the Joint Administrators and Joint Liquidators;
:: Causing and permitting the Company to fail to maintain/preserve/deliver up adequate accounting records;
:: Causing and permitting the Company to accept customer prepayments at a time when there was no reasonable prospect of avoiding a formal insolvency and/or failing to supply services paid for.
The following additional matter of unfit conduct alleged by the Department in relation to Patrick McDaid, Joseph William Doherty and Francis Houston and not disputed was: Causing and permitting the Company to be financed by the retention of £785,295 due to the Crown consisting of £343,746 in respect of PAYE tax and £309,562 in respect of NIC for the tax years 2008/09 and 2009/10; and £131,987 VAT from the quarters ending 04/2008 to 01/2010; and failing to submit Crown returns on time, or at all.
The following additional matter of unfit conduct alleged by the Department in relation to Joseph William Doherty, Francis Houston and Peter Leonard and not disputed was: causing and permitting the Company to make preference payments to the Directors of £133,000 which reduced the amount owed by the Company to the Directors to £146,443.
The following additional matters of unfit conduct alleged by the Department in relation to Patrick McDaid and not disputed were: causing and permitting the Company to make preference payments to the Directors of £133,000 which reduced the amount owed by the Company to the Directors to £146,443, £74,000 of this amount remains outstanding to him directly; submitting a materially inaccurate Statement of Affairs in that he understated the liabilities of the Company by £1,044,830; causing and permitting the Company to misuse a bank account at the Bank of Ireland in that a total of 20 cheques with a value of £82,558 were returned unpaid in the period 29 October 2008 to 21 November 2009.
The following additional matters of unfit conduct alleged by the Department in relation to Peter Leonard and not disputed were: failing to fully co-operate with the Administrator; causing and permitting the Company to be financed by the retention of £877,188 due to the Crown consisting of £380,881 in respect of PAYE tax, £354,252 in respect of NIC, and £142,055 in respect of VAT; and failing to submit Crown returns on time, or at all; failing to provide an explanation as to why monies due to the Company were paid to him personally and failing to account for these monies in the sum of £1,000.
The following additional matter of unfit conduct alleged by the Department in relation to Francis Houston and not disputed was: failing to fully co-operate with the Administrator.
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