Caterham F1 Team
Caterham buyer Engavest SA say they 'strongly refute' the allegations made by Tony Fernandes earlier on Thursday as doubts continue over the future of the Formula 1 team.
Fernandes insisted that Engavest had not fulfilled their obligations as the buyer of the squad but the latter have now hit back, claiming that it is the Malaysian businessman who did not adhere to the agreement.
"Engavest SA, strongly refutes the allegations of Tony Fernandes and Caterham Group CEO Graham Macdonald regarding its conduct while trying to purchase Caterham F1," read a statement released on Thursday evening.
"Our statement of earlier today still stands. Every single condition precedent of the Sales and Purchase Agreement for which Engavest was responsible has been met. Only the seller, which includes Mr Fernandes, failed to meet his obligations. All salaries have been paid.
"Engavest sold CSL. It did not appoint Mr [Constantin ] Cojocar who, we believe, was a former top footballer for Steaua Bucarest during the 1980s.
"The claims of Mr Fernandes and Mr Macdonald contradict their own press statement dated 03 October 2014:
"Caterham Group wishes to clarify that, following the sale of the F1 business in July, it has no affiliation with Caterham F1 Team."
"That one sentence alone contains two errors: 1, the date was June 29; 2, having failed to transfer the shares Caterham Group and Mr Fernandes wholly owned Caterham F1 at the time of the statement, as they do today.
"Incidents such as a Caterham Group representative forcibly breaking into a filing cabinet containing our private and confidential documents and the continued refusal to deal with the outstanding loan of Exim Bank and complete the agreement has culminated in Engavest’s total comtempt of Mr Fernandes and his Group executives with whom we entered a deal in good faith."
