Thursday 12:56
The director of a plasma screen distribution company that failed with debts of more than £669,000, has been disqualified in the High Court in London from acting as a company director for five years.
Andrew George Prodromou, age 55, of Brookfield Avenue, Ealing W,5 was a director of Delphi Information Ltd, which carried on business from premises at 195 The Vale, Acton, London W3 7QE.
The Disqualification Order, made on 7 August 2003, prevents Mr Prodromou from being a director of a company or, in any way, whether directly or indirectly, being concerned in or taking part in the promotion, formation or management of a company for the above period.
Delphi Information Ltd was placed into voluntary liquidation on 24 January 2000 with estimated debts of £669,396 owed to its creditors.
The Insolvency Service, on behalf of the Secretary of State for Trade & Industry, has responsibility (under Section (6) of the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986) for the investigation of the conduct of directors of failed companies and for the disqualification of those who are considered to be unfit to be involved in the management of companies in the future.
Matters of unfit conduct found by the court, not disputed by Mr Prodromou, were that he:
* caused Delphi Information Limited to trade to the detriment of the revenue collecting departments by operating a policy whereby monies owed to them (£111,702 for VAT and at least £170,757 for PAYE/NIC) were retained and used as working capital to finance the company's trading;
* caused Delphi to fail to deal properly with its tax affairs in that it failed to comply with its statutory obligation to remit returns on time or at all, and failed to settle its liabilities when due to the revenue collection departments;
* caused Delphi to make interest free loans to himself from 1996 onwards, up to at least £152,578, in breach of Section 330 of the Companies Act 1985. The sums remained unpaid; * caused Delphi to misuse its funds in that payments were made by the company that were not bona fide company expenses and that were for Mr Prodromou's benefit, at times when Delphi was failing to pay its own liabilities; * failed to ensure that accounts and annual returns were filed with the Registrar of Companies in breach of Sections 242, 244 and 363 of the Companies Act 1985; * caused Delphi to misuse its bank account in the period May 1998 to April 1999 in that cheques were issued when there were insufficient funds in the account to honour them; and * acted in contravention of Section 216 of the Insolvency Act 1986 in relation to Delphi Displays Limited, in that he was a director of Delphi Displays Limited following the liquidation of Delphi, when the name Delphi Displays Limited was prohibited to him. Mr Prodromou has indicated that he may make a Section 17 Application in respect of his current company, but no details have yet been received of this.
Notes to editors
1.The Insolvency Service is an executive agency of the Department of Trade and Industry with responsibility for both the regulation of Insolvency Practitioners and for company directors' disqualifications.
2.Insolvency Practitioners are authorised to deal with the administration of a range of company insolvency procedures including administrations and administrative receivership, and creditors' voluntary liquidation. They are required to report to the Insolvency Service on the conduct of company directors' work in each of these proceedings with a view to identifying behaviour that might make these directors unfit to be involved in company management in the future.
3.The Insolvency Service considers the voluntary practitioners reports and, where appropriate, will investigate the conduct of directors with a view to taking disqualification proceedings on behalf of the Secretary of State.
4.A court can disqualify directors from directorships and involvement in the management of companies for between two and 15 years for unfit conduct. If a director breaches a Disqualification Order they can be prosecuted and may be punished by a fine, a prison sentence of up to two years, or both. They may also be made personally liable for the company debts.
5.Directors who accept that their conduct is unfit can give an Undertaking to the Secretary of State that they will not become involved as a director or in the management of a limited company for an agreed period of between two and 15 years. This avoids a Court process, but the penalties for breach of an Undertaking are the same as for breach of a Court Order.
6.Companies House maintains a public register of disqualified directors that can be viewed at http://www.companieshouse.gov.uk
7.Addresses given are those correct at the time of the company failure but may not now be current. Requests for further information about this news release must be made to the Government News Network, details below, not to the Insolvency Service, unless otherwise stated. Regional news releases for the Department of Trade and Industry can be viewed at http://www.gnn.gov.uk
8.Members of the public who think that they know of any person who is acting in breach of a Disqualification Order or Undertaking should report that person's details to the Insolvency Service Disqualified Directors Hotline on 0845 601 3546 (24 hour message service). General enquires to the Insolvency Service should be addressed to the General Enquiries Help line on 020 7291 6895.
For further information about the Insolvency Service and disqualification see http://www.insolvency.gov.uk
Issued on behalf of the Insolvency Service by the Government News Network London. For more information please contact Kike Biye on Tel: 020 7261 8787; Fax: 020 7928 7082; Email: kike.biye@gnn.gsi.gov.uk
Regional news releases for Government departments can be viewed at http://www.gnn.gov.uk/
