Entrecote legal dispute
Restaurateur Jason McLaren Jones has been caught up in a nasty and protracted legal battle.
The case centres around celebrations he was running. The first was his 40th birthday party which was as full-on affair, featuring a black-tie masquerade dinner for 220 people. The event was hosted in a candlelit marquee complete with opera singers and a jazz band. The second was a more intimate function at his flagship restaurant Entrecote. On the night, 17 guests enjoyed a custom-designed degustation menu.
Two shareholders in the South Yarra brasserie are not impressed. They have filed a no-holds-barred lawsuit accusing Mr Jones of financial impropriety, misuse of company resources and tax evasion.
At the heart of the lawsuit is a dispute over the operation and accounting practices at the celebrated restaurant across from the Royal Botanic Gardens.
Entrecote shareholders Adam North and David Maconochie, who also run cattle grazier Hopkins River Beef - the meat supplier for the restaurant - have pulled no punches in the law suit.
One of the key allegations raises a $1 million "discrepancy" in the takings recorded in Entrecote's official financial reports since it opened in January 2015. And there’s a claim that staff were employed off-the-books to reduce costs and avoid taxes.
It includes a damning affidavit from former manager Marty McCaig which says: “There was in the vicinity of $10,000 cash paid to employees each week in around March 2016 when I ceased employment. This was recorded on a spreadsheet that was kept on a USB drive in the office at Entrecote. I would also take out approximately $10,000 for Jason that I'd wrap up; anything remaining went to the bank. On a regular basis I would get cash out of the safe with JMJ written on the outside and give it to Jones ... he said that it was for the shareholders' dividends”.
Jones has flatly denied the allegations. He says the investors, who were also major suppliers, have gone to court out of retribution for a business relationship that has gone off the rails.
"All I try to do is run honest businesses in Melbourne. It's hard enough in the industry with staff, keeping customers coming through the door. You can ring every one of my suppliers and we pay our bills on time, every time," he told Fairfax Media.
by Leon Gettler, December 12th 2016
