Goldtrail Investigated

Forensic investigators at PricewaterhouseCoopers have been appointed to probe the collapse of holiday operator Goldtrail Travel, after it emerged that the airline regulator was investigating the company’s invoicing just weeks before the collapse.

Liquidation documents reveal that Goldtrail was in May subjected to an investigation by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in which the company's policies for invoicing and APC customer protection payments were reviewed.

The CAA then demanded a bond worth 10-15% of the company's revenue, around £8m, which Goldtrail was unable to pay. Its former owner, Kadir Aydin, has alleged that the CAA inquiry contributed to the company's failure, because this "distracted [executives] from their managerial responsibilities". 

Goldtrail Travel's administrators, Begbies Traynor, in conjunction with the CAA, have now appointed forensic accountants from PricewaterhouseCoopers to conduct deeper investigations. 

Richard Curtin, special counsel at Faegre & Benson told has said, “The first issue that jumps out in this development in the Goldtrail saga is the appointment of PwC as a third party to carry out the investigation. It seems unlikely that Begbies Traynor would have willingly given up such a fee which raises the question as to whether this is the instruction of the CAA or another. “

“If it does transpire that the CAA are responsible for tipping over Goldtrail the Administrators may well have a cause of action. Begbies Traynor cannot, and will not, ignore the findings of PwC and will be duty bound to proceed against whoever has misbehaved if this proves to be the case. It will be very interesting to see the results of the PwC investigation and get to the bottom of who is responsible for this costly failure.”

More than 16,000 UK passengers were plunged into chaos when the firm collapse and left stranded abroad. Liquidation documents reveal that the operator had debts of £5.7m, including owing HM Revenue & Customs £150,000 and more than £1.5m to airlines Turkuaz Airlines and Onur Air.

Posted at 02:23PM Sep 17, 2010 by Marc Stenton in Insolvency  |  Comments[0]