The Born Clothing group of companies, which had 15 shops around the country, went into liquidation with debts of €7.82 million, including €2.2 million owed to Revenue. His claims are strongly disputed by joint liquidators David O'Connor and Ian Barrett, who were appointed by the court in May. Curley has told the liquidators he was just an employee of Born's associated company Elland Distributors Ltd and an underpaid one. But O'Connor said the liquidators disputed this on a number of grounds, as he was the "controlling mind" within the company. Foreigners, and foreign entities, are prohibited from owning land in Thailand but may acquire a 30-year lease on the property, O'Connor said.