Follow the Money

An update on the legal situation regarding our case:  

     Our company's solicitor Patrick Cunningham tells me that our application to be heard in the Supreme Court has been rejected. It hardly comes as a surprise. Our counsel Tim Dixon BL advised us that we had no basis for appealing the Court of Appeal judgment. I begged to differ and on Mr. Cunningham's advice supplied them with 35 points of contention; all were not admissible, and all were not full points of contention, but many were both and all exposed in some way the extreme dishonesty of the judgment. Mr. Dixon went AWOL, never even said goodbye. Simon Boyle, a senior counsel we neither met nor employed, then took over the application, removing all of our points of contention. Leprechaun Law, the gift that keeps on giving. 

My personal solicitor, also Mr. Cunningham, is currently instructed to apply for an injunction against our company's court-ordered participation in the 'settlement', based on my legal rights as a creditor of our company being disregarded by its alleged participation in the 'settlement'. It is a relatively simple matter. Mr. Cunningham is refusing to follow the instruction.  Given how technically difficult it is for counsel to throw one specific application (as opposed to the pick 'n' mix of full cases and appeals), the barristers will need him to hold the line.

 I try to find the funny side of what these guys get up to, but things are very bad right now. We could use some support. The (ex-)members of the club have been and are being diddled out of St. Mel's Park and everything that they are supposed to stand for. There is no shame in being fooled, but there is shame in allowing it to continue after you've wised up. I don't mind spending years of my life on this battle, it is an interesting and challenging experience but, unlike those members and unlike the opposition, it is not my battle.                 

Meanwhile, the boys are doing a Waterford and selling the club or some entity identifiable as the club [talks with Irish Sea FC Ltd. reportedly broke down when the Americans didn't like the idea of handing over a hundred grand in cash upfront as a goodwill gesture]. This is unlikely to be Athlone Town Athletic FC, a 'club' which was apparently created for the double purpose of welshing on the club's creditors and manufacturing a product to satisfy Pre Season. What exactly is being sold this time? 

Don't expect the FAI to tell us. And don't expect it to reveal for the first time which of the two Athlone clubs was awarded another League of Ireland playing licence, this time for 2023. The process for licencing of the entire league was brought forward from February of next year to last month. With no alternative explanation available, I can only assume that this was done as (yet another) special favour from the association to the company's directors Michael O'Connor and John Hayden. If I am correct on this, then the sale is likely to go through very soon. 

Even at face value, the overwhelming story of the new accounts is that Messrs. O'Connor and Hayden have reaped an extraordinary return on their investment.  While Mr. O'Connor has never to my knowledge invested in the club, Mr. Hayden did, while establishing a moral authority of sorts over its then governing committee, invest a sum of E10 a week for a period in 2013. I would estimate the two men's total investment in club and stadium, including 2021's E3,000 payment to Garda Dully (it is impossible to accept the accounts' claim that the company would ask an unremunerated member for such a loan, especially in a profitable year), as something less than E5,000.

By way of contrast, the Irish taxpayer/lottery player has invested around E2.7 million for no return. Our company has invested around E665,000 for no return (much more if its legal costs are not recovered). Various donors have given around E1.3 million for no return. I have invested E75,000 for no return. And most importantly, the club members have invested their grounds at St. Mel's Park, again for no return. Let's say E5 million in total.

Assuming a continuation of their emoluments in 2022, Messrs. O'Connor and Hayden have already pulled in a comfortable E300,000. And even in the unlikely event that Pre Season was to take its cut, they would still pocket 30% of the sale of the franchise. As a rough guide to market price, Waterford FC, a similar club albeit with no claim to the ownership of any stadium, was on the market for E1.3 million recently.

The development value of the property has to be factored into any estimate of returns on their investment. As reported to me by our then solicitor Mr. McNelis (he claimed to have ''overheard'' the conversation, which is unlikely, but he had no reason to lie about the content of the conversation), it was the opinion of the Athlone solicitors Martin Egan and Dara Hayden that this was the aim behind Garda Dully's High Court case. I don't think these two men could be said to have been outside the loop, especially considering Garda Dully's September 11th, 2018 revelation to the court of secret (to me, anyway) meetings between the two men prior to the signing of a purported trust in Mr. Egan's office in April 2015. If the solicitors are correct, then it is surely a good omen for the directors that Garda Dully's first nominee to the committee we are ordered to participate in (as per the terms of the Cormac O Dulachain SC's 'settlement') is the Chairman of Westmeath County Council. 

Not counting potential bonus variables such as selling the same product twice (a vendee could conceivably believe that Athlone Town AFC CLG permanently owns the stadium i.e not be informed about the 'settlement'), I would estimate the maximum pre-tax return for Messrs. O'Connor and Hayden as E12 million. In the end, if the Irish authorities continue to turn a blind eye, two men who have no more right to ownership of club or stadium than the man in the moon will pocket (before tax) something between 12% and 240% of the total public investment. And anything up to 2,500 times their own investment  (6,000 times if Garda Dully's loan really happened).

 Under a heading of 'Future developments', it is stated ''Apart from growing the business in the normal way, the directors have seen the opportunity to substantially increase business in providing material, equipment and vital supplies to the Health and Medical industry ...'' It is difficult to understand why the directors have yet to set up a toll booth on the Bridge of Athlone. 

Subsequent to last June's 'theft' of the club's computer in a 'burglary' at our stadium [Watergate 3.0 perhaps, 2.0 having happened in May 2017], Athlone Town AFC CLG submitted audited accounts for the first time - three years' worth in 34 days.  This serves as a brochure of sorts for the sale, with sexier returns than had previously been suggested.                                                                                    

Some of the earlier accounts are 'restated'.                                                                                                    

 From Investopedia:  '' A restatement is a revision of one or more of a company's previous financial statements to correct an error.'' '                                                                                                                                                             

''Accountants are responsible for deciding whether a past error is 'material' enough to warrant a restatement.''                                                                                                                                                   

 ''Many restatements are the result of innocent mistakes and basic misinterpretation. However, some can raise red flags, highlighting potential fraud or incompetence''.

Some highlights of the year-to-year accounts of Athlone Town AFC CLG are shared in graph form below (each year mentioned is a financial year which begins on December 1st of the preceding year).

 While the new accounts amount to a welcome break from years of protected secrecy, there is a marked lack of specific detail. Most importantly, there is still no indication of what happened to Pre Season's reported E500,000 investment (Callaview Ltd. has never submitted any accounts) in one of the Athlone clubs. Note that there is no restating of the 2017 accounts, which would cover this period.