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Harlequin Property, the company that owns Buccament Bay Resort has won a fraudulent misappropriation case against a former contractor at the resort.

Harlequin Hotels and Resorts said in a release last week that it won case against Padraig “Paudie” O’Halloran.

The High Court in Ireland heard that the contractor fraudulently misappropriated more than US$13 million from US$50 million sent to his firm for the resort’s construction.

“During the 31-day trial, Harlequin provided evidence and witness testimonies detailing how O’Halloran fraudulently misappropriated in excess of US$13m from US$50m that was sent to ICE Group for the resort’s construction. Of the $13m that was diverted, more than $2m was sent to Ireland to pay for items including a lavish wedding. The Court also heard that sums were used to fund luxury purchases, such as a US$1.5m private jet, a racecourse in St Lucia, a car franchise business and renovations to a rented property on the Sandy Lane estate,” Harlequin said in a release.

It further said that while the funds were being misappropriated, very little of the promised construction work was actually carried out at Buccament Bay Resort, resulting in the resort opening later than originally planned and on a smaller scale.

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Other developments were also delayed as Harlequin was forced to create its own construction company to resume work in June 2010, the firm said.

The judgement comes even as Harlequin itself is embroiled in a number of lawsuits and is working on a restructuring its UK sales arm, which went into administration earlier this year.

Meanwhile, in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, some providers of goods and services to Buccament Bay Resort have complained about not being paid or having to wait for long periods for payment.

On July 4, the manager of Buccament Bay Resort refused to speak to I-Witness News amidst reports that the electricity supply to the resort was disconnected.

Reports say the electricity supply was reconnected later that day.