A group of six individuals retained the Regulatory Legal Solicitors law firm to help them get back a total of around £500,000 they had invested in Harlequin’s Buccament Bay Resort in Barbados, with the result that a court hearing was scheduled for last Thursday in Birmingham.
The court refused the application, but the matter was subsequently settled out of court afterwards, a spokesman for Regulatory Legal said. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed, but at least one press account claimed that Harlequin agreed to pay the investors all of the money they were seeking.
In a statement, Harlequin said that it was “pleased to say that the court refused to grant the application after a fully contested hearing”, which, it noted, "followed days of media speculation unfairly inferring that Harlequin Property and Buccament Bay Resort would be forced to stop trading."
The statement added: “Harlequin denies any wrongdoing, and looks forward to clearing its name in relation to the other allegations that are currently being unfairly referred to in the press.”
Separately, the spokesman confirmed that the company had heard from the UK’s Serious Fraud Office, which last week announced that it would be “looking into complaints in relation to the Harlequin group”, but reiterated that the company, although willing to meet with the SFO, could see no reason for its interest.
Off-plan resort properties
Based in Basildon, Essex, Harlequin is a major purveyor of off-plan luxury resort properties in the Caribbean and other locations to investors.
As reported, the company began to attract UK and offshore financial services industry concern back in January, after the Financial Services Authority issued an alert on the company. A few weeks later, the FSA contacted providers of self-invested personal pensions (SIPPs), asking them to notify it if they have any clients invested in the firm, and pointing out to them that Harlequin was not FSA regulated.
Meantime, a High Court case now under way in Ireland involves legal effort on the part of Harlequin to obtain restitution, damages and compensation from an Irish property developer it retained in 2008 to complete its Buccament Bay luxury complex.
The case is being covered by such Irish publications as the Irish Times, which reported on 6 Feb that Harlequin Property and Harlequin Hotels and Resorts claimed the developer had used more than $13m of their money "for his own benefit and ‘lavish lifestyle’ out of some $50m intended for the [Buccament Bay] development".
