Adelaide hotel operators Bloody Mary Group have fallen into liquidation, coming after its directors were found to have orchestrated deals with liquor suppliers that funnelled funds out of the venues.
News emerged in May of a Supreme Court decision against Bloody Mary Group (BMG) directors Brett Viney and Matthew Mitchell. The pair were found to have inked rebate deals for the beer taps in their stable, but kept knowledge of these monies from partners even as the businesses struggled.
The Court ordered them to pay $383k to Michael and Nicholas Crouch – their former business partners at the Windmill Hotel.
Earlier this month notice was posted on the ASIC website that BMG had fallen into liquidation and forensic accountants DuncanPowell appointed to wind up the company.
According to DuncanPowell’s Chris Powell the damages have not been paid to the former partners. He told the ABC there “isn’t going to be any funds” to abide by the judgement.
Viney and Mitchell are also said to have lodged an appeal against the judgement, but that no appeal would proceed until they had paid a security deposit.
At its peak the Bloody Mary Group held a collection of pubs throughout greater Adelaide. The Windmill, which had been making significant losses, was sold. Both the Archer Hotel in North Adelaide and Kincraig in Naracoorte had already lapsed into administration and have since opened again under new operators.
The future of BMG’s Saracens Head Hotel remains unknown at this stage.
