The Government-appointed inspector into the Bula affair, Mr Lyndon McCann, has been contacted by an executive from a firm of solicitors in the Bahamas who says he is the sole director of Mir Oil Development Ltd, the British Virgin Islands company at the heart of the issues Mr McCann has been asked to investigate.
The executive, attached to the companies department of Cafferata and Co, solicitors, has said he is the sole director of Mir Oil Development Ltd.
Mr Craig Bond, son of the jailed Australian tycoon, Alan Bond, has said he is the beneficial owner of the company. It is understood this is being supported by the Cafferata executive who has invited Mr McCann to travel to Freeport in the Bahamas to meet him.
However, he has asked Mr McCann to pay for Mr Bond and his London solicitor, Mr Michael Coleman, of Harkavys solicitors, London, to travel to the Bahamas to be present at the meeting. The Cafferata executive has also requested that Mr McCann pay his expenses.
Mr McCann, it is understood, has said he does not have the responsibility or the entitlement to pay such expenses. He is now awaiting a response to this.
The invitation was extended to Mr McCann on Monday, the day counsel for Mir Oil and Mr Bond withdrew an application before the High Court which would have seen Mr Bond give evidence in support of his claim to be the owner of Mir Oil.
Mr Bond was to have met Mr McCann in Dublin this week to be interviewed but that arrangement was cancelled late last week by the Australian businessman.
It is understood the Cafferata executive has said he is sole director and secretary of Mir Oil. He was appointed late last year. It is understood his offer is that he would consult Mr Bond and Mr Coleman and then, should he think it correct to do so, he would meet Mr McCann. If he had any difficulty with any queries from Mr McCann, then he could consult Mr Bond who would be present or nearby.
On Monday a High Court case involving Mr McCann and the former chairman of Bula Resources, Mr Jim Stanley, was adjourned for a week because papers had not yet been served on Mr Stanley. The former chairman has raised objections to meeting Mr McCann, and the court was to be asked to rule on whether Mr Stanley had a valid basis for doing so. Papers have yet to be served on Mr Stanley.
Bula Resources has been attempting to serve papers on Mr Stanley for the past 2 months. It is understood the former chairman is based in Moscow but travels extensively in Russia.
