EXCLUSIVE by OUR BUSINESS EDITOR
The directors and company secretary of an insolvent Avocet businesses attempted to 'divert' company assets while they were being sold by the firm's administrator for the benefit of creditors, it has been claimed.
Emma Porter, the administrator of Orrdone Farms Ltd. (formerly called Avocet Farms) describes the efforts to frustrate the disposal of Agricultural Entitlements in a newly published progress report to Orrdone's 150 creditors.
Ms Porter, of the accountancy firm Aver, has been bombarded with verbal abuse since her appointment in 2020 by former Avocet chairman Martin Frost, the bankrupt businessman who fronted the failed Avocet enterprise. It was supposed to revolutionise fuel production and agricultural processes, but now shareholders fear they have lost an estimated £20 million pounds.
Earlier this month, an email sent to investors by Mr Frost but carrying the name of a mysterious individual named Tim Carter issued a sinister pledge to 'exterminate' Ms Porter's Edinburgh-based firm of accountants.
Mr Frost's repeated letters to shareholders in which he vowed to sue Ms Porter and a host of others he blames for Avocet's "£200 million losses" appear to have had little affect on the Orrdone administration.
Ms Porter repeats her earlier dismissal of the various allegations levelled against her by Mr Frost in her new report.
She writes: "I continue to be made aware from a number of sources of extensive correspondence issued to a wide variety of parties commenting directly on the administration procedure or the administrator personally.
"The extensive correspondence continues to be at best, often inaccurate and in many instances inappropriate. As stated in previous reports, our investigations suggest the primary purpose of these communications is to deflect attention away from the matters in hand in order to cause unnecessary delay to the progress of the administration".
Ms Porter also confirms the continuation of the non-cooperation of all the directors which has been a feature of the administration from the outset. "As this is in direct contravention of their statutory duties as directors, the joint administrators are pursuing legal channels available to them under the Insolvency Act".
The background to the sale of Orrdone's so-called Agricultural Entitlements is set out in detail in Ms Porter's report. The Entitlements are rights that a farmer must hold to claim direct payments under the Basic Payment Scheme. Each entitlement has a value and must be matched against an eligible hectare of land.
The company owned 129.14 hectares of entitlements when it entered administration. Sales were agreed with independent third parties and the documentation was passed to the Rural Payments and Inspection Division [RIPD] to process the transfers.
Ms Porter states: "It is noted the directors and the company secretary (of Orrdone) also attempted to interfere with the process to divert these assets and to prevent these from being realised for the benefit of the creditors. The matter has been resolved with £16,967.71 being realised net of costs".
The administrator also notes that shortly after the period covered by her latest report (January to July 2022) she was notified by Companies House that Eirlys Lloyd Company Services Ltd. had resigned as Orrdone's company secretary.
"The administrator did not consent to this or receive any advance notice of the intention to resign. During the next period we will be liaising with Companies House to clarify why the resignation was accepted without the administrator's consent".
Orrdone's secured creditor UK Agricultural Lending Ltd. was owed £3.25 million at the outset of the administration. The report reveals: "As of May 1, 2022 the sum of £4,568,090.07 remains outstanding. Interest will continue to run on the outstanding debt until it has been settled".
The total claimed by creditors amounts to £11,350,601 including £10,395,737 from former parent company Omega Infinite PLC which is in compulsory liquidation.
Ms Porter says she is monitoring the progress of Mr and Mrs Frost's bankruptcies as any dividend payable will have an impact on the company's position.
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