The Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation is inquiring into the whereabouts of an English yacht agent based at Kilrush Creek Marina in Co Clare, along with a £40,000 (€50,789) boat and up to £60,000 in cash and equipment.
An Armagh boat owner, a Belfast engine supplier, a Co Down sailmaker, a Kilrush marine service company, and several other local companies in the marine business have lodged complaints with the Garda on foot of the agent's disappearance. Several customers who paid deposits for charter sailing holidays are also alleged to have been left high and dry.
The Irish Sailing Association (ISA) has confirmed that it received numerous calls about the man early this week and had advised callers to inform the Garda. A bureau spokesman confirmed that an investigation was under way.
The agent, who advertised in reputable English yachting magazines, set himself up in business at Kilrush Creek Marina earlier this year. The marina company has confirmed that he introduced himself as an agent, running a fleet of charter yachts, and had taken berths for two vessels at the marina. One of these vessels has now gone and the owner has no idea of its whereabouts.
Mr Joe Lyttle, the yacht's owner, told The Irish Times that he first contacted the agent through an advertisement in a English monthly yachting magazine. A former electrical worker now in early retirement and living near Armagh, Mr Lyttle purchased a 1988 35-foot Beneteau 35 yacht in Westport, Co Mayo, and asked the agent to examine it with a view to refurbishment.
The yacht, named Castor, was transferred to Kilrush on the agent's advice, and Mr Lyttle agreed to charter it out to subsidise the cost of repair and maintenance. However, the agent is alleged to have told local suppliers that he owned the vessel.
Mr Lyttle travelled to Kilrush on several occasions to help with the work, and keep costs down - unaware, he says, that he had been presented by the agent as an "employee" rather than as the actual owner.
Mr Lyttle says he also asked the agent to rename the vessel and register it with Customs and Excise. No such re-registration is on Customs' records in Limerick which means that the vessel can be sold.
Mr Lyttle said he paid up to £30,000, either directly to the agent or to suppliers for equipment as part of the refurbishment. The last he heard from the agent was a phone call over two weeks ago, purportedly from London. The vessel left Kilrush on a charter in late April and was towed ashore by the lifeboat when a rope fouled the propellor. It has not been seen since.
A replacement Volvo engine ordered by the agent and installed by Robert Craig and Sons in Belfast has not been paid for, according to Mr Derek Craig, director of the company. "He ordered an original engine from us which was paid for, but when the trouble developed he contacted me and said he needed an urgent replacement," Mr Craig said.
In addition, the agent is alleged to have left Kilrush Marine Services in debt to the tune of £3,000 and to have left a four-figure sum unpaid for work carried out by Ryan and Roberts Marine in Askeaton, Co Limerick.
Kilrush Marine Services has confirmed that it is suing the agent for the unpaid sum and for defamation. It is understood that several potential holidaymakers paid deposits or full fees of up to £1,700 for charter holidays.
Kilrush Creek Marina said it had no contractual arrangement with the agent, and had not offered any discount on berths - although a small discount would have been considered if a fleet arrived. It is understood that the agent's fleet of up to 22 yachts was due to arrive later this summer and in the autumn. The agent did discuss using an office at the marina, but this option was not pursued.
The agent gave a home address in Co Clare for all correspondence, but the property is now up for sale. The mobile phone number for the agent diverts calls to a voice mail box, and the message says that the company owner is returning a yacht from Scotland and is due in Malahide marina on May 12th or May 13th - which was more than three weeks ago.
