Administrators of failed Scottish airline and operator Globespan Group are to investigate why £30 million of payments had been held back by credit-card payment processing company E-Clear.
Bruce Cartwright, who works for the administrator PricewaterhouseCoopers, said yesterday he would look into why the money was not passed on.
It is thought about only half the £30 million will be returned to customers of Globespan Group who will not receive the products they bought.
Cartwright said a lack of cash led to the demise of Globespan, although he could not confirm whether the holding back of the £30 million was the cause of the failure.
Although Globespan had made a £1.2 million profit last year, it was being turned around after losing £19 million the previous year, which meant suppliers were nervous about extending credit.
E-Clear is also facing legal action from the administrators of another failed airline, SkyEurope, which filed for bankruptcy last September.
The UK-based company was backed by German bank Deutche Bank, which acted as guarantor, but travel industry firms were advised that this relationship was terminated last September.
E-Clear worked with XL Leisure Group, the operator and airline that failed last September in one of the travel industry’s biggest ever collapses.