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Mayo & Calder, the contractors who reported wrongdoing against Team New Zealand and its events company, could face the loss of a second contract related to the international sailing regatta.
The official challenger of the 36th edition of the America’s Cup, Circolo Della Vela Sicilia, who competes as Prada, warned Mayo & Calder that he is conducting a review that could terminate his contract.
Mayo & Calder’s work on the America’s Cup match, to be held next year, has already been eliminated, but the company had a separate agreement with the official challenger to work on preliminary competitions, including the Prada Cup in the one that the applicants will compete. the right to compete with the New Zealand team for the America’s Cup.
In June, Team New Zealand CEO Grant Dalton announced that he had expelled contractors he believed had been leaking confidential information about the America’s Cup Event (ACE) union.
Operating within the Team New Zealand headquarters, with Dalton as its CEO, ACE received up to $ 40 million of taxpayer money to administer next year’s America’s Cup.
It emerged that the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) had appointed forensic accountants Beattie Varley to investigate whether taxpayer money was being applied correctly and whether record keeping within ACE and Team New Zealand would enable MBIE to comply. with its legislative requirements.
Beattie Varley’s final report concluded that she had seen no evidence that ACE had misapplied event money from taxpayers.
But he also said that poor record keeping by the New Zealand team meant that the basis of payments between him and ACE could not be objectively verified, which “deserves criticism at the government and management level.”
Beattie Varley said she does not “necessarily” believe that Team New Zealand’s lack of records means that MBIE cannot meet its obligations under the Public Finance Act.
Team New Zealand and ACE said the report represented a vindication.
When Dalton, who is also the CEO of ACE, discovered that Mayo & Calder had been providing information to the auditors, he terminated his contract with the company.
Mayo & Calder’s expulsion from ACE appears to have caused his problems with the official challenger.
The Herald understands that the official challenger sees himself in a “hateful position.”
Although it had not ruled on the merits of the dispute between Mayo & Calder and ACE, ACE’s refusal to cooperate with the company meant that Mayo & Calder could not provide the services for which it was contracted.
As a result, three months after ACE cut ties with Mayo & Calder, the official challenger initiated a review of its contract with Mayo & Calder that could terminate the agreement due to a failure to provide contracted services.
Mayo & Calder declined to comment. The New Zealand team and Circolo Della Vela Sicilia have not responded to a request for comment.
In July, ACE won a Superior Court injunction preventing the Herald from releasing details of an earlier Beattie Varley report.
ACE has initiated legal action against Mayo & Calder that includes claims for breach of trust, and Mayo & Calder has filed a counterclaim, including a lawsuit for improper termination of the contract.
MBIE Executive Director Carolyn Tremain has said she has no reason to believe that Mayo & Calder did not act in good faith in raising concerns with the ministry.
Court documents suggest that Mayo & Calder’s agreement with ACE was never documented.
Beattie Varley’s final report revealed that several ACE deals with third-party vendors were “undocumented, or operating verbally, or still under negotiation” at the time of the investigation.
