Washington - Tareq and Michaele Salahi's signature social event, the annual Land Rover America's Polo Cup, bills itself as the "world's most prestigious and largest ... charity polo event," benefiting the Salahi-run charity Journey for the Cure. Its next U.S. gala is scheduled for June on the Mall.

The two-day event is to center on a polo match between the United States, for which Tareq Salahi is the captain, and India. General admission tickets start at $25, "Cartier VIP tickets" are $600 to $1,000, and a lifetime membership is on offer for $100,000.

But many sponsors listed by America's Cup for 2010 - including Land Rover, Cartier, the St. Regis Hotel in Washington and the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co. - say they are not sponsors for that event. Many vendors at previous events said in interviews that the Salahis have not paid for their services in the event's three-year history, expenses totaling about $500,000. Many have filed lawsuits, and the couple has countersued often.

Tareq Salahi told The Washington Post last year that the 2007 event raised $250,000 for charity and that he hoped to surpass that amount with the next event.

The Journey for the Cure Foundation - the event's beneficiary - donated $15,000 to its stated causes in 2007, financial disclosure forms show, and none since. The foundation failed to register with state regulators for four years, leading the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to warn consumers earlier this year that contributions "to such an organization could be used for non-charitable purposes." The foundation registered two weeks ago.

Meanwhile, the foundation says on its Web site that it is an "approved charity with Mission Fish," a nonprofit group that helps foundations raise money on eBay. But a Mission Fish vice president said Journey for the Cure was suspended in October over concerns about irregularities with its tax-reporting status.

The foundation has also filed conflicting reports about its finances. Last year, $19,000 in donations were reported to state regulators. Amounts that low are not subject to federal tax reporting. The foundation's Web site lists $0.00 in online donations so far this year.

The Salahis are shown as the only executives of both America's Polo Cup and the nonprofit foundation. Both list the Salahi home as their business address. Neither the Salahis nor their attorney, Paul W. Gardner, returned phone or e-mail requests for comment for the past two days.

In sum, the portrait of the couple's twin entities is marked by financial disarray, potentially false or misleading claims, broken friendships and bitter court filings. The two entities - the centerpiece of the Salahis' public profile and their stated reason for going to the White House state dinner last week - have left many customers angry at poor service and many business partners furious.

"They had promised two years ago that some of the (British royal family) would be there - that didn't materialize," Vivian Deuschl, Ritz-Carlton spokeswoman, a 2007 sponsor of the event, said Tuesday. "It's fair to say the event did not live up to its billing."

"I was hired and contracted to secure corporate sponsorship. I worked for seven months, I raised more than $225,000 in cash and products, and I was never paid," said Kate Robbins, the event coordinator for the inaugural America's Polo Cup in 2007. "It's over $100,000. It's been a real hardship for me."

The Post's FW fashion magazine, along with Washingtonian and the Washington Times, are also on a long list of "official sponsors" and "partners" of America's Polo Cup for 2010. Post spokeswoman Kris Coratti said the magazine had never given cash to the Polo Cup and decided after an event in June "not to participate" in future events.

The Salahis created America's Polo Cup in 2006, and set the first event for spring 2007 at Morven Park in Leesburg. It was to be a swank affair in Virginia horse country, featuring a match between a U.S. team sponsored by Cartier and a British team sponsored by the Ritz-Carlton.

It drew the official support of Virginia Democratic Gov. Tim Kaine, 5,000 spectators and was a posh event in the state's year-long commemoration of the 400th anniversary of the founding of the Jamestown settlement. The Salahis, running the Oasis Winery in Hume, billed the event as a tourism booster and a fundraiser for Journey for the Cure.

The foundation was Tareq Salahi's own creation. Press materials said the foundation would donate "proceeds" to the local chapters of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

"The message ... is curing these illnesses," he said in press materials.

But the British royal family, particularly polo-playing Prince Charles, never materialized, as many patrons believed Tareq Salahi had promised. Wine and food disappeared quickly, and it seemed that confrontations with vendors after the event were de rigueur.

In addition to Robbins, the event organizer, the caterer (Market Salamander) later said it was not paid, and filed a still-unresolved suit for more than $300,000. The company that supplied tents said Tuesday it was not paid the $53,000 due.

"We put together a 16-page advertorial section in the regional edition of Town and Country for the 2007 event," said Mark Manoff, co-owner and vice president of Atlantic Media, a Virginia-based communications firm. "We worked closely with Tareq and Michaele. He collected the money from the advertisers but never paid us."

Manoff said the firm did not pursue it because it was "$20,000 and just wasn't worth it."

A representative for Journey, which performed at the event, said Tuesday that the band was paid.

J. Christopher Broullire, president of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society's National Capital Chapter, said Journey for the Cure donated $5,000 to his organization in 2007. He said the foundation also donated thousands of dollars worth of wine to the society's fundraiser for more than a decade.

Donna McKelvey, executive director of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's National Capital Area Chapter, said it received $5,000 in 2007, too.

"We had no issues," she said. "It was wonderful they asked us to participate the inaugural year."

But the Journey for the Cure foundation, established in January 2004, never registered with the state to raise funds, the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services discovered four years later. This led to a year-long dispute with Tareq Salahi about providing documentation, according to Elaine Lidholm, director of communications for the Virginia agency.

"We made multiple attempts to obtain information from them, but they just failed to provide it for months and months," she said.

Salahi, after requesting extensions, finally provided the information Nov. 15, she said, the last day possible.

Stuart Himelfarb, who lives in Hume, near Tareq and Michaele Salahi, is listed as a member of the charity board but he said he isn't really involved and is more of a "silent member."

"I don't think it's all that much money," he said when asked about how much Journey for the Cure raised, though he said he wasn't sure. He said several years ago when his son was very sick with an immune-blood disorder, he got involved in the charity, but he has never seen any financial material.

"I am not privy to it," he said.

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Staff writers Chris Richards, Liza Mundy, Mary Pat Flaherty, James V. Grimaldi, Amy Argetsinger, Allison Klein and Warren Brown and researcher Alice Crites contributed to this report.