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Thursday 25 July 2013

Thanet "FerryGate" What's in a Name

For 4 months Thanet Council has had us believe that it was Transeuropa Ferries (TEF) Ltd which owed the Council £3.3million. Not so!  Following my on-going  requests for information   the Council has been forced to admit  that it struck a fee waiver deal with 4 companies not one. These companies are

Transeuropa Ferries NV
Forsythia Maritime Co Limited
Odyssy Maritime Company Limited
Dianthus Maritime Co Limited

I will shortly have access to all the invoices and payments related to these companies for the period 2006 - 13 and will publish summaries.

So why have senior Council officers been trying to create the impression that a single company owed the Council £3.3, when in actual fact 4 companies owe the Council £3.3 million between them. What was the purpose of the deception? The other interesting point is that with the exception of Transeuropa Ferries NV, the other 3 companies are registered in Cyprus. I am not certain if  any of these companies are in liquidation or not.

More to come in due course.

10 comments:

  1. Keep going Councillor Driver, these ongoing revelations may eventually change the years of "we know best" attitudes held by people who are serving in Her Majesty's local governments. Who'd want to be the head of this lot, by George!

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  2. Oh dear Oh dear Oh dear. The deception is coming unraveled. I thought McGonigal admitted to having not carried out any due diligence on one alleged company who were going to support Tanseuropa Ltd. I don't recall her making any mention of Forsythia Maritime Co Ltd or Odyssy Maritime Company Ltd or Dianthus Maritime Co Ltd. Why did she not admit to knowing about the interest of these additional companies and instead chose to mislead the Councillors. Time for McGonigal to resign forthwith.

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  3. Since we now know Thanet Council knowingly misrepresented the whole debt situation to the public at large as to which companies in which countries and their administration status actually owe the money, can we now have a public inquiry or an independent investigation so we can see all the facts and the whole truth rather than the falsehoods and lies that have been peddled by the corrupt Council administration up to now.

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  4. 3.3 is the section Ian which relates to the Searchlight Report of 1996 concerning the use of Ramsgate Harbour.


    There was a Mr R Deuster I think who had letters published in IoT Gazete using Royal Temple Yacht Club as his address.

    I think it was 1994 that David Ralls took over as TDC Chief Executive and became MD Port Ramsgate. It would appear then that whatever went on at Ramsgate Harbour, featured in the 1996 Searchlight reports, had occurred when Ian Gill was Chief Executive.

    The council solicitor refused to circulate the Searchlight reports of 1996 to cllrs. Even though they concerned the use of Ramsgate Harbour owned by TDC ? Keep the cllrs in the dark. Just the same as happened with Sericol discovery of 30 years of massive aquifer contamination in 1993.

    The matter of porno cartoons being placed into Labour Lady cllr document circulation. That caused Cllr Margaret Mortlock to take a tory cllr before Chief Executive (presumably Ian Gill) where the cllr promptly announced he ran a mail intercept at TDC through helpful council officers.

    I don't know whether you have noticed this. But if there was a mail intercept it was pretty much concurrent with Police Fraud Squad inquiries at TDC. Don't you agree that the police oughta shoulda been told about that?

    You may have sensed there are questions afoot at TDC. In 1985 the Home Service Force TA formed a unit in Broadstairs. At which point members were told (I was one) that there was land available for paramilitary training for unofficial activity. Of course anyone with any sense avoided it like the plague. But by 1987 about 21 men from the TA depot thought they had been recruited for British Special Forces. Duped allegedly by the issue of UDR ID cards and UDR enlistment documentation. Not that forgers are thick on the ground in the locale. Much to their surprise Kent Police arrested them in 1987. The question to TDC is was this land that was being used for paramilitary training, and where arrests occurred, owned by the Leader of Thanet District Council 1985 the late Cllr Derek Dolding.

    I emailed Cllr Bill Hayton knowing he was chums with Derek and that they were both witnesses at Aldwych High Court 1998 for ex Cllr George Maison who was, nonetheless, found guilty of libel.

    Bill ain't got round to answering yet.

    It appears that the TDC solicitor who kept members in the dark about the use of Ramsgate Harbour, alleged by Searchlight to South Africa authority, was the same solicitor who advised Standards and the ctte sat whilst the evidence file for 6th Thanet Gun range was withheld.

    Of course Clive Hart hasn't answered yet. But I ask for inquiry and the second a council officer or member may have a right to be protected by caution then TDC should make a crime complaint to police to take over.

    Hre is the Searchlight Report Part 1

    TDC is not having to seek its troubles is it ?








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    Replies
    1. The Police, when I arrived here had arrested Bill Leadbetter at TDC offices...see link for more details..http://thanetstrife.blogspot.co.uk/2008/04/tdcs-murky-finances.html

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  5. And KM report similar problems with none of the Cabinet or Council approvals followed at all - and their FOI requests being refused. A corrupt council. Jail them.

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  6. Ian, It is traditional for ship owners to register each vessel as a separate company so if they get into finanacial difficulties only one vessel is affected. So each vessel owned by Trans Europa has been a discrete company probably 7 or 8 different companies of the last few years. It actually beggars belief that a council would allow a company with floating assets to rack up such an enormous bill. i note the marina staff ask for money on arrival!!! what a shame a phd could make such a fundamental error of business practice, back to the old adage of an accountant knowing the cost of everything and the value of nothing.
    If the senior councillor officers were cricketers they would have walked by now, but i guess they are holding on for the big pay out.

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  7. In addition to Proceeds of Crime Act money laundering obligations to report

    Today I emailed a reply to Clive Hart, after receiving a communication from TDC solicitor Hervey Patterson, asking him to re-direct Harvey to Section 17 Crime and Disorder Act 1998 to review his legal advice.

    This relates to a Standards Process from which an evidence file was withheld.

    If a cllr benefitted from the process then there would appear to be an offence of benefitting by concealing crime. Criminal Justice Act 1967. This reinforced by the fact Section 17 Crime and Disorder Act 1998 created a statutory obligation on councils to report crime. Hence if this happened then the process which concealed crime would be Conspiracy to Pervert Justice. All crimes subject to the statutory obligation on TDC to gather the evidence and make crime complaints to police.

    This aspect of the 1998 act may be worth bearing in mind.

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  8. A lot of blog trolls have been asking what has an "Old" Gun Range history got to do with current issues like TEF debt, Pleasurama and the 25 years of grant aid TDC put through East KentMaritime Trust.

    Perhaps the relevance is that as those "Current" issues arose TDC was under a statutory duty to make crime complaints which could have named the member(s) and official(s) involved ?

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  9. Can 16:16 confirm what he says about Section 17 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 creating a statutory obligation on councils to report crime, as it is headed Duty to consider crime and disorder implications and does not seem to impose a duty to report crime?

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