PROPERTY magnate Peter Curistan, who built the Odyssey Pavilion entertainment complex in Belfast nearly 20 years ago as well as a raft of landmark projects across Ireland and Britain, has been banned from being a director for six years after his empire collapsed owing close to £13 million.
And for accountant-turned-investor Curistan (60), whose address was given as Hampton Park, a cul-de-sac off the Saintfield Road in south Belfast, it is the final ignominy in a very personal fall from grace since the property collapse.
His Sheridan Millennium property empire was placed in administration in 2010 and he was then made personally bankrupt in early 2013.
The entrepreneur - who has consistently claimed he's been "wronged by the system" - subsequently launched a series of legal actions seeking a return of his properties.
He then begun a personal campaign to discredit Ireland's big lenders and "make them accountable", even taking out a series of newspaper adverts calling on aggrieved business people to come forward and voice their dissatisfaction at the treatment they had received from major banks.
Now it has emerged that Curistan - along with his wife Marian Anne (62) and former business partner Peter Holmes (73) from Dunblane in Scotland - have accepted disqualifications after a case brought before the courts by the Department for the Economy (formerly Deti).
Undertakings were received for six years from Peter Curistan in respect of his conduct as director of City Car Parks Ltd, Odyssey Bowl Ltd, Sheridan Entertainments Ltd, Sheridan Millennium Ltd and Strike Four (Belfast) Ltd, and for two years from his wife in respect of Sheridan Entertainments. The undertakings from Holmes related to City Car Parks and Odyssey Bowl.
According to the courts, the estimated totally deficiency in four of the five businesses in which Curistan was a director was more than £12.75m, which included debts at his bar and restaurant firm Strike Four (£6,346,147), Odyssey Bowl (£3,297,486), City Car Parks (£1,946,072) and holding company Sheridan Entertainments Ltd (£1,160,527).
Regarding Sheridan Millennium Limited, which was Curistan's property investment and management firm operating from the Odyssey Pavilion, it was said to have entered administration with "unknown assets and liabilities", the Department for the Economy (DfE) hearing was told.
However, it was reported at the time that when it was placed in administration by Anglo Irish Bank - which later became the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC) - it had debts of more than £50m.
The DfE accepted the disqualification undertaking from Peter Curistan based on dozens of areas of what the courts deemed as "unfit conduct", which for the purposes of the disqualification procedure he didn't dispute.
Among them, he propped up the various businesses by retaining more than £1.6m which was properly owed in income tax, national insurance and VAT over several tax years.
There were also many instances of his companies not filing annual company returns, either on time or at all, going back as far as 2002, as well as permitting companies to transfer/advance monies and/or make loans to related parties at a time when they were insolvent.
Other misdemeanours included submitting a materially inaccurate statement of affairs in respect of some of his businesses; breaching the provisions of the Companies (NI) Order 1986 and the Companies Act 2006 in relation to director loans; and not providing certain information to the administrators.
Regarding Sheridan Millennium Ltd specifically, he was said to have taken loans of £543,904, £1,662,669, £897,780 and £1,043,371 over a number of years; failed make a provision for a chargeable gain when the company ceased to be resident in the UK in 2007; and failed to pay at least £10,378,615 in corporation tax.
HIS COMPANIES - AND WHAT THEY OWED
:: City Car Parks Ltd (entered liquidation on May 13 2010) - assets of £39,145, liabilities to unsecured creditors of £1,985,215, overall deficiency to creditors of £1,946,070.
:: Odyssey Bowl Ltd (entered liquidation on June 17 2010 ) - assets of £213,796, liabilities to preferential creditors of £67,306, liabilities to floating charge holders of £198,592, liabilities to unsecured creditors of £3,245,284, overall deficiency of £3,297,386.
:: Sheridan Entertainments Ltd (entered liquidation on September 16 2010) - assets of £1,427, liabilities to unsecured creditors of £1,161,952, overall deficiency of £1,160,525.
:: Strike Four (Belfast) Ltd (entered liquidation on September 16 2010) - unknown assets, liabilities to floating charge holders of £320,896, liabilities to unsecured creditors of £6,025,249, overall deficiency of £6,346,145.
:: Sheridan Millennium (entered administration on April 14 2011) - unknown assets and liabilities.
