There was once something “for everyone in the audience”. But now one young couple are suing RTE for breach of contract after walking away empty-handed from The Late Late Show despite winning the most lucrative prize it has offered.

David and Olivia Timlin, from Co Mayo, won a penthouse ski chalet valued at €105,000 three years ago in a joint promotion by RTE, The Sunday Business Post and KenDar, a property company operated by the fugitive solicitor Michael Lynn.

After the collapse of Lynn’s property empire in 2007, construction stalled on the development of ski chalets in Bansko, Bulgaria, and the scheme is now unlikely to be completed.

Although the Timlins were awarded the prize by host Pat Kenny on the Late Late Show, RTE claims the couple’s contract was with KenDar and its only role was to market and promote the competition.

Following the realisation that Lynn had gone bust in 2007, the couple asked RTE for a copy of a disclaimer they had signed on the night they won. It emerged that the terms and conditions stated that KenDar was solely responsible for delivering the prize and no cash alternative could be offered instead of the apartment.

The Timlins argued they had won the prize in good faith and initiated legal action against RTE and The Sunday Business Post last March, alleging breach of contract. The Sunday Business Post said it had reached a settlement. “We were indemnified, but we decided that we had a moral obligation to the couple,” it said. “We have come to an agreement with them out of goodwill.”

RTE declined to comment on the case “which is still ongoing”. The couple referred all queries to Manus Sweeney, their solicitor, who also declined to comment.

The Timlins, who have married since their appearance on The Late Late Show, won a place in the final through a phone-in competition, then competed against 25 other couples in a Mr and Mrs-style quiz, which they won by answering questions about each other’s likes and dislikes.

After winning the Bulgarian getaway, they were asked by Lynn, who is also from Mayo, to promote the scheme. The day after winning the prize they appeared at an overseas property exhibition organised by Lynn in Dublin as “The Late Late Show couple”. They were later flown to Bansko as a guest of the lawyer, who owes about €93m to banks and former clients.

The competition that the Timlins entered promised its winners a luxury ski chalet in a development with restaurants, a swimming pool, bar, shop, sauna and gym. Entrants were also told that their holiday home would be within easy reach of a golf course designed by Ian Woosnam, which was recently completed. KenDar described Bansko on the Black Sea coast as the “best developed” ski resort in Bulgaria.

Frank Feighan, a Fine Gael TD for Roscommon-South Leitrim, bought a unit in the same development, having paid Lynn’s company €48,000. The politician has conceded that he is unlikely to get his money back and says he has written it off as a bad debt. “If I ever get the money back, I will give it to charity,” he said.

It is estimated that up to 300 Irish investors paid €5m for properties in eastern Europe through KenDar, Lynn’s Dublin-based company which sold properties in locations from China to Dubai.

Lynn, who faces arrest if he returns to Ireland, apologised to his clients earlier this year. He denied being a fraudster and claimed he was “a product” of an out-of-control financial system. He said he wanted to come back to Ireland and was prepared to serve a prison sentence, as long as it was only for “one month, two months, three months”.

Lynn’s current whereabouts are unknown although he claims to be “travelling around Europe” in an attempt to secure the investments of those who had invested in his property business.

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