Gambling guru blames error for ASIC move on venture

A CLOSE associate of Mercedes Corby has defended his business acumen in the wake of one of his companies being deregistered – claiming it was simply a clerical error.

Ex-Gold Coast businessman Robert Tidy, now based in Hong Kong, said TidyLayBets.com Pty Ltd was not struck off but deregistered after he failed to pay fees owed to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.

He said he closed TidyLayBets.com four years ago after retiring from the industry.

“The only reason I kept it alive was to buy Laneway Bar and Dining (Ms Corby’s venture with pro surfer Trudy Todd) because Trudy wanted me to buy it,” he said.

Mr Tidy tried to rescue Ms Corby and Ms Todd’s bar last year after the former friends had a bitter falling out.

Mr Tidy said he looked at their books last year but decided not to lend any more money to the restaurant. He said he had instructed his accountant to wind up the company in the wake of the failed restaurant rescue, but this did not happen.

“I hadn’t paid the fees from a year ago when all that Trudy stuff happened,” he said. “I said to my accountant ‘wind it up’.

“I said to him before, ‘hey listen this hasn’t been done, why?’ He told me he did do it … I have never had a company shut down (struck off) by ASIC and never will.”