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Stokes Brothers Disqualified for Four Years
27 January 2012
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Simon and Christian Stokes, former directors of Bang Café in Dublin, have been disqualified from being involved in the management of any company in Ireland until March 2016 on foot of a Section 160 application brought before the High Court by liquidator Tom Murray earlier this week. Justice Finlay Geoghegan, in arriving at her decision, took into account mitigating factors such as the personal effect of the winding up of the business has had on the Directors, and also their acceptance that they were irresponsible in the management of Mayfair Ltd.
The brothers, are now employed at the restaurant Il Segreto on Merrion Row, of which their father is a director, earning €2,500 each per month. Simon Stokes, in his affidavit said that the intense publicity in the case had acted as a significant punishment, and also denied that they were dishonest or involved in calculated wrongdoing during there period of directorship.
Bang Café was wound up two years ago with debts of €2.4 million. An application for orders under Section 150 of the Companies Act to restrict the brothers acting as directors of companies for a period of five years, unless those companies meet minimal capital requirements, was brought by the liquidator in 2011. The brothers consented to these restrictions.
This week, an order was sought under Section 160 of the Companies Act which would disqualify the brothers from acting as Directors of a Company in the State for a period determined by the High Court. During these proceedings, the court heard that Simon and Christian Stokes had spent almost €146,000 of the company's money over an 18-month period on their own personal expenses, to include hotels in London, Denmark and Barbados. The Company owed more that €450,000 to the Revenue Commissioners at the time.
Justice Geoghegan considered submissions by both the liquidator and the brothers during these proceedings and on Monday 23rd January granted a disqualification order under Section 160 of the Companies Act against Simon and Christian Stokes for a period of four years which will coincide with the restriction application already brought against the former Directors.
By Richael O'Brien
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