Judgment against founder of Hobbs-led venture
Sunday November 04 2007
THE taxman has registered a €626,000 judgment against Ditchley Developments, a company owned by one of the key quartet in the Eddie Hobbs-led Brendan Investments property vehicle.
Richard Fitzgerald, a founder and shareholder in the Hobbs-promoted property outfit, is the owner of the offending company. The judgment was registered by the Collector General three weeks ago and was published in Stubbs Gazette on October 18.
Brendan Investments is currently seeking funds from members of the public for its European property prospect.
Fitzgerald is described in the Brendan Investments prospectus as one of four "founders" and is listed as a holder of 10 "founder shares" and 9,521 ordinary shares. He has been awarded a €30,000- a-year contract as "property adviser" to the venture.
As a founder, Fitzgerald joins Eddie Hobbs and three directors who will be entitled to a preferential share of the final assets of Brendan Investments -- provided it meets certain targets.
Last Wednesday, in a surprise development, it was announced that Brendan Investments had postponed the closing date for receipt of funds from the public for another 30 days.
They did not reveal how much money had been collected by the high-profile fundraising campaign.
Fitzgerald and Hobbs are both investors in Hiberno-Hungarian Enterprises, which accumulated losses of over €100,000 in 2006.
Fitzgerald is MD of the Oran Group, a property company in Cork with widespread interests in Ireland and the UK.
Last night a spokesman for Ditchley Developments (DD) said: "Mr Fitzgerald had outstanding tax repayments due to him which were to be offset against the DD tax liability. Due to matters outside his control, a judgment was raised against this tax liability before the tax offset was completed. This matter has now been fully resolved with the tax liability offset against refunds due to Mr Fitzgerald.
"This fact has been confirmed by the office of the Revenue Commissioners and DD Ltd has no liabilities."
- SHANE ROSS
