The Analysis News & Opinions


Directors banned for falsely securing £975,000 of credit


Three directors, who dishonestly secured credit by causing their companies to submit false invoices to factoring companies, have been banned for a total of 29 years. Deborah Mary Fisher (50) of Spalding,


Lincolnshire was the director of NJ Transport Limited, a haulier based in Weston Hills. Over two years between January 2016


and March 2018 she caused NJ Transport to submit false invoices to a factoring company totalling £425,500. The factoring company realised the invoices were false when NJ Transport was preparing to enter a creditors voluntary liquidation in March 2018. When the factoring company tried to


recoup money from Ms Fisher personally under her guarantor agreement, she declared herself bankrupt in May 2018. In a similar case, Marcus Grose (52), of


Enfield, and Dominic Worley (54), of Feltham, were directors of National Electrical Wholesale Limited. Incorporated in 2004, the company sold electrical goods to trade customers. When National Electrical Wholesale


experienced cashflow difficulties in June 2015, Mr Grose and Mr Worley caused the firm to submit false invoices to a factoring company to secure credit. Over the next 18 months, the electrical


wholesale company submitted £550,000 worth of invoices from a total of 44 false debtors. The factoring company, however, uncovered the dishonesty when it queried some of National Electrical Wholesale’s invoices. All three directors have been disqualified


and are banned from directly or indirectly becoming involved in the formation, promotion or management of a company without permission of the court. Ms Fisher signed a nine-year undertaking,


while Mr Grose and Mr Worley have each been banned for 10 years. Other recent examples of disqualifications


as a result of factoring abuse include Adrian Kurt Seymour Venni, who was disqualified for nine years after he caused his company,


September 2019


Anthill Plant Hire Limited, to submit false invoices worth over £1.3m to a factor. In January 2019, Terence Coventry was


also disqualified for sevem years after he caused his company, Alliance Traffic Services Limited to submit false invoices worth £177,000 to a factoring company. David Brooks, group leader of insolvent


investigations for the Insolvency Service, said: “Factoring companies provide a vital service to companies experiencing cashflow difficulties, alleviating short-term financial problems and allowing them to continue trading. These directors grossly abused this service. The disqualifications will severely curtail their activities for many years to come.” Meanwhile, a jailed restaurateur has been


banned from running companies for 12 years after he was found to owe HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) over £1m. Lam Chin Seong (61), from Barnet, was


the sole director of Novari Limited and Novari (at the O2) Limited. Incorporated in 2012, the two companies


traded as the Water Margin Chinese Restaurant in Portsmouth, as well as the Water Margin Chinese Restaurant and Water Margin Jazz Club in Greenwich. Each company had an annual turnover


in excess of £1m. Mr Seong, however, registered the companies falsely with HMRC, describing them as arts-based businesses with estimated annual turnovers of


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£10,000 and £80,000, which were significant under-valuations. He then failed to file VAT returns for


either company, which caused HMRC to raise assessments on the companies’ behalf based on their falsely declared annual turnovers. The assessments were, as a result, for much smaller amounts than was really owed – sometimes only for hundreds of pounds. Mr Seong caused the companies to pay the


smaller assessments rather than correcting the error, which meant over £1m in tax went unpaid over four-and-a-half years. In July 2016, an HMRC investigation


uncovered the fraud, and the restaurants ceased to trade soon after. Mr Seong put both companies into liquidation in winter 2016 and autumn 2017 respectively. In November 2018, Mr Seong pleaded


guilty to two counts of being knowingly concerned in fraudulent evasion of VAT. He was sentenced to three years in prison in December 2018. HMRC then worked with the Insolvency


Service to secure Mr Seong’s disqualification as a director in addition to his custodial sentence. Effective from 3 July 2019, Mr Seong is


banned from directly or indirectly becoming involved, without the permission of the court, in the promotion, formation, or management of a company.


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