Brothers Simon and Christian Stokes have indicated they will consent to orders disqualifying them from involvement in managing any company on grounds of unfitness, the High Court was told today.
The brothers, whose Bang Cafe restaurant in Dublin was wound up last year with debts of €2.4million, have indicated through their representatives they will consent to orders being made against them under Section 160 of the Companies Act at a hearing fixed for January 23rd next, Bernard Dunleavy, for Tom Murray, liquidator of the company, said.
Their lawyers had also said they wish to make submissions concerning the length of the disqualification period, counsel added.
The Section 160 application is being brought by Mr Murray as liquidator of Mayfair Properties Ltd, which ran Bang Cafe on Merrion Row.
In March, the brothers consented to orders under Section 150 of the Companies Act, restricting them for a period of five years from acting as directors of companies unless those companies meet minimal capital requirements.
However, the liquidator sought further orders under Section 160 of the Act to prevent the brothers being involved in the management of any company.
Today, Mr Dunleavy told Ms Justice Mary Finlay Geoghegan his client was consenting to an adjournment on the basis the Section 160 case must proceed in January.
He said his client had been contacted on Friday evening by the Stokes brothers' representatives and told they wished to file an affidavit relating to the length of the disqualification period to apply when the Section 160 orders are granted.
Mayfair was incorporated in 1997, began trading in 1999 and operated Bang Cafe at Merrion Row, Dublin until it was wound up in January last year.
In an affidavit, Mr Murray previously outlined several concerns about the operation of Mayfair including outstanding payments of €477,996 to the Revenue, a history of under-declaring Revenue returns and personal use of company credit cards.
Mr Murray said he believed the directors improperly used monies owing to the Revenue as a means of financing the business.
He also said he believed the directors had engaged in significant personal use of company credit cards. Credit card statements between January 2007 and June 2009 showed large sums of Mayfair monies were used to pay personal bills incurred by Simon Stokes at hotels, restaurants and a range of stores in Ireland and abroad.
Credit card payments in the name of Christian Stokes between January 2007 and June 2009 included a payment of €3,835 to Ashford Castle; €2,091 to Maroma Resort & Spa and €2,011 to the Skovshoved Hotel, Denmark.