PARTY OVER FOR FIXER TO THE STARS

Daily Mail
97/Party-fixer-stars.html
March 6 2009
UK

Money was no object when multimillionaire Rafi Manoukian marked his
50th birthday and the christening of his daughter Fimi.

His friend Sir Elton John threw open the grounds of his Windsor home
to host the bash – and provided the cabaret – for guests including
Elle Macpherson, Gordon Ramsay, Lulu and the Beckhams.

They sipped Dom Perignon, danced on a mirrored floor and were
entertained in a lavish bash choreographed by party planner to the
stars Matthew James, who once had giraffes and zebras mingling with
guests at one of Elton’s celebrations.

The bill was an eye-watering £827,000, but the hangover had only just
begun. This week James, who once created an airport-themed bash for
Kevin Spacey, was declared bankrupt, bringing the curtain down on a
career that flourished in the excesses before the credit crunch.

The saga began shortly after the party in December 2006. Manoukian,
convinced he had been overcharged by the concealment of commissions,
rebates and discounts received from James’s suppliers, withheld the
£200,000 balance he owed party company DNA.

When talks failed, DNA took the wealthy property developer to
court. But it lost the case after a judge ruled the contract between
DNA and Manoukian had been unclear.

James was ordered to pay the tycoon £400,000 in costs, and with the
burden of his own fees and the original £200,000, his firm went into
liquidation. When James was unable to pay up, Manoukian petitioned
for his bankruptcy.

‘I have to accept the judgment,’ shrugs James. ‘We were right to bring
the claim, it’s just unfortunate it failed. We were a tiny company,
so the strain of our legal costs was just too much.

‘We were hit with the money he owed suppliers on top of his legal
costs and our legal costs. Effectively this meant that DNA and its
suppliers subsidised a millionaire’s party by approximately £200,000.’

Armenian-born Manoukian, who with his brother Bob is 251 on the Rich
List, declined to comment.

Adds James: ‘I don’t know what I’m going to do. I do bespoke parties
and in the current climate there’s not a huge call for that kind
of thing.’