They envisioned chilled cocktails amidst a tropical poolside setting, but the owners of popular Sydney bar Mrs Sippy have found themselves embroiled in an unfolding legal nightmare with Balinese authorities over their attempt to open a spin-off venue on the Indonesian island.
Sydney restaurateur Andrew Stanway has been threatened with criminal charges and ordered by police to immediately cease building Mrs Sippy Bali - a luxury restaurant and bar in Bali's upmarket Seminyak district - on the grounds he does not have a building permit.
Mr Stanway, 39, who co-owns the Double Bay bar Mrs Sippy with Ben May, Angus Abrahams, and Kate Stanway, travelled to North Kuta to oversee the construction of the new venture ahead of its grand opening in September.
But it is understood the venture has been thrown into disarray by a series of disputes, triggered by souring relations with a former business partner.
Mr Stanway could not be reached on his Indonesian mobile, but Mr May told Fairfax Media the allegations were "complete rubbish".
"I don't have any comment because they [the allegations] are all completely pathetic," Mr May said.
In a sign of deepening hostilities with local authorities, Balinese media published copies of Mr Stanway's passport on Tuesday, believed to have been provided to them by local police.
It follows a string of allegations levelled at Mr Stanway, including non-compliance with building regulations and forgery of land documents, which have been seized upon by the local press.
Fairfax Media does not suggest Mr Stanway has been involved in the illegal conduct alleged, but his experience does underline the difficulties foreigners sometimes encounter doing business in Bali.
Balinese newspaper Denpost reported that Mr Stanway's troubles began as a neighbourly dispute, after police received complaints about construction materials falling onto neighbouring houses in early June, while the foundation and walls of the bar and restaurant were being built.
The head of Badung civil service police, I Ketut Martha, said when police inspected the site they discovered it did not have a building permit and was in breach of two local regulations, so they ordered it to be shut down.
"Because of a complaint by the community, our team did a site inspection and found that the building lack a building permit such required by local regulation no. 27-2013. " Mr Martha told the Denpost on June 15.
The police order - a copy of which has been obtained by Fairfax Media - warned Mr Stanway on June 6 to cease construction or else face criminal consequences.
"[W]e are instructing you to halt any activities of the said construction, because it violate (sic) the badung regency regulation on building permit and if you continue with any activities on site you will be criminally charged in accordance to the regency law," the order said.
The parties then appeared to reach a resolution, after a representative of Mr Stanway met with police on June 8 and assured them the business was in the process of securing a permit.
However, the situation deteriorated further after construction allegedly continued, and the local Balinese press aired further allegations from another man, Wayan Dharmayasa, who claimed to own the parcel of land and wanted to build his own business on the site.
Mr Dharmayasa's lawyers called in the local police, requesting the construction site be sealed off and Mr Stanway and his developers be denied access, the Balinese news website Semeton News reported earlier this week.
Mr Dharmayasa's lawyer, Joseph Remi, told Semeton News land ownership documents had been forged so the bar could go ahead.
"We checked with the notary, the land is still under Wayan Dharmayasa's name, but strangely Andrew and Rosita [Mr Stanway's purported business partner] have started building on the land," Mr Remi said.
"It appears there is no record of hand over or sale between the two parties."
Mr Remi said he tried to subpoena the land documents from Mr Stanway to show who was the owner, giving him three days to comply, but received no response.
"Wayan Dharmayasa filed a police report to South Denpasar police complaining of forged documents," Mr Remi said.
Despite the wrangling behind the scenes, Mrs Sippy assured patrons as recently as last week that the Bali opening was imminent.
On June 24, weeks after being instructed by police to stop building the restaurant and bar, Mrs Sippy posted to their Facebook page that the Bali venue was "opening soon".
It is thought the restaurant has already hired all of its staff in anticipation of its opening, including an operations manager and accounting manager, and a range of junior staff including housekeepers, bartenders and cooks.
with Amilia Rosa
