The liquidators of a Dublin windows and doors company have submitted a report to the Corporate Enforcement Agency (CEA) saying there was evidence of insolvent trading before the firm collapsed, the High Court heard.
The joint liquidators of DK Windows and Doors, whose sole director is Darragh Kane, say the CEA can choose whether or not to bring proceedings while the liquidators themselves can also bring proceedings for alleged reckless and fraudulent trading.
The court heard DK Windows and Kane have denied any liability under the Companies Act provisions governing fraudulent and reckless trading. They say it will be “vigorously defended if pursued”.
On Tuesday, solicitor Graham Kenny, for joint liquidators Nicholas O’Dwyer and Colm Dolan of Grant Thornton, presented an updated report to the court on investigations into DK Windows. The company suddenly ceased trading in December 2024 leaving some 225 unfilled contracts on which customers paid a total of €1.2 million.
The liquidators said investigations focused on matters including the absence of adequate accounting records that Kane would reasonably have relied upon to assess the company’s deteriorating financial position.
They also looked at the basis upon which a Revenue Commissioners repayment plan was entered into, including the reliance on customer deposits and the continued acceptance of new customer deposits despite indications of a lack of capacity to fulfil them.
The difficult choices that could dramatically increase housing supply in Dublin
There was a Black Friday promotion the month before collapse, in November 2024, and the absence of any financial assessment underpinning it and the question of trading while insolvent.
The liquidators said they had submitted their report to the CEA and made recommendations under section 682 of the Companies Act 2014, governing insolvent trading.
In a recently received response from an accountant on behalf of DK Windows and Kane, it was claimed information sought by the liquidators in relation to books and records was contained in the Quickbooks cloud accounting system and in separate Profitmaker software.
The accountant said login details for these systems had been provided to the liquidators in December 2024 and it was “therefore baffling that you continue to assert ignorance” of the systems in place.
It was “astonishing”, the accountant said, that the liquidators continued to assert Kane made financial decisions without any basis when he had such systems as well as an accountant working for him.
The accountant said the Black Friday campaign “did assist the company in generating new orders” as evidenced in the order book.
The company believed it could service the work required following receipt of customer deposits “and any insinuation to the contrary is denied”, the accountant said.
It was further stated by the accountant that it was implied Kane accepted deposits in bad faith, but he never benefited from the company’s demise.
Kane has consulted with the Money Advice and Budgeting Service (Mabs) and is currently in the process of arranging his affairs with a personal insolvency practitioner.
Judge Brian Cregan adjourned the case to June when, he said, he hopes the CEA and the liquidators will have decided on what action to take.