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Neil John Bowers, a company director, has been sentenced to eight months imprisonment suspended for 18 months at Cambridge Crown Court, after pleading guilty to failing to preserve proper company records and defrauding creditors.

His co-director Andrew William Villis has also been sentenced to 120 hours unpaid work after he pleaded guilty to failing to preserve company records.

The convictions follow an initial investigation by The Insolvency Service and a full criminal investigation and prosecution by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS).

Mr Bowers and Mr Villis were both directors of Waste 2 Go (Cambs) Limited, a recycling and scrap company based in Cambridge, that went into liquidation on 13 July 2009 owing £139,561.35 to creditors.

Mr Villis presented some records to the Official Receiver in October 2009 but these were incomplete and, despite numerous requests, nothing else was provided by either director.

The Official Receiver tracked down bank statements for the company and discovered that shortly prior to the liquidation, and at a time when the company was being chased by creditors, £33,514.93 had been paid to Ferry Group Limited, a company of which Mr Bowers was also a director.

Mr Bowers was sentenced to eight months imprisonment suspended for 18 months and ordered to do 120 hours unpaid work.

The court also ordered him to pay compensation of £33,514.93 to the Official Receiver, with £10,000 to be paid immediately and £7,400 in costs.

Mr Villis was sentenced to 120 hours of unpaid work and ordered to pay £7,400 in costs.

Deputy Chief Investigating Officer Ian West from the Department for Business Innovation and Skills said:

“Company Directors should take note that it is a criminal offence to fail to keep adequate accounting records. They should be in no doubt that the Department of Business will prosecute those that ignore this warning.”

Notes to Editors

1. Neil John Bowers of Floods Ferry in Cambridgeshire and Andrew William Villis of Wisbech were both directors of Waste 2 Go (Cambs) Limited, which entered liquidation on 13/07/09.

2. The directors of a company are required to ensure that the company keeps adequate accounting records, that these are preserved for the requisite number of years and in the case of a liquidation are delivered up to the liquidator or Official Receiver. Failure to carry out any of these duties can amount to a criminal offence contrary to the Companies Act 2006 or the Insolvency Act 1986.

Similarly, as a director you cannot enter into transactions to defraud creditors of the company and this can also amount to a criminal offence contrary to the Insolvency Act 1986.

3. Timeline of significant events in case.
28/08/12 First hearing at the Magistrates’ Court
25/09/12 Case committed to the Crown Court
28/01/13 Plea and Case Management Hearing at the Crown Court
05/03/13 Crown Court Sentencing

4. Offences:

STATEMENT OF OFFENCE

FAILURE TO CAUSE A COMPANY TO PRESERVE ADEQUATE ACCOUNTING RECORDS, contrary to Section 389(3) of the Companies Act 2006

PARTICULARS OF OFFENCE

Neil John Bowers, between the 24^th day of September 2006 and the 3^rd day of March 2012, being an officer of Waste 2 Go (Cambs) Limited, was in default in that he failed to take all reasonable steps for securing compliance by the company with Section 388(4) of the Companies Act 2006 in that the company did not preserve accounting records for three years from the date on which they were made as required by s 388(4) of the Companies Act 2006.

STATEMENT OF OFFENCE

FAILURE TO CAUSE A COMPANY TO PRESERVE ADEQUATE ACCOUNTING RECORDS, contrary to Section 389(3) of the Companies Act 2006

PARTICULARS OF OFFENCE
Andrew William Villis, between the 28^th day of February 2007 and the 3^rd day of March 2012, being an officer of Waste 2 Go (Cambs) Limited, was in default in that he failed to take all reasonable steps for securing compliance by the company with Section 388(4) of the Companies Act 2006 in that the company did not preserve accounting records for three years from the date on which they were made as required by s 388(4) of the Companies Act 2006.

STATEMENT OF OFFENCE

ENTERING INTO A TRANSACTION IN FRAUD OF CREDITORS, contrary to Section 207(1)(a) of the Insolvency Act 1986

PARTICULARS OF OFFENCE

Neil John Bowers, between the 23^rd day of February 2009 and the 1^st day of May 2009, being an officer of Waste 2 Go (Cambs) Limited, a company which was ordered by the court to be wound up on the 13^th day of July 2009, made or caused to be made a transfer of the company’s property, namely £33,514.93.

5. The Insolvency Service administers the insolvency regime investigating all compulsory liquidations and individual insolvencies (bankruptcies) through the Official Receiver to establish why they became insolvent. The Service also authorises and regulates the insolvency profession; deals with disqualification of directors in corporate failures; assesses and pays statutory entitlement to redundancy payments when an employer cannot or will not pay employees; provides banking and investment services for bankruptcy and liquidation estate funds; and advises ministers and other government departments on insolvency law and practice. Further information about the work of The Insolvency Service is available from http://www.insolvency.gov.uk.

6. BIS’ mission is to build a Dynamic and Competitive UK economy, in particular by creating the conditions for business success and promoting an open global economy. The Criminal Investigations and Prosecutions team contributes to this aim by taking action to deter fraud and to regulate the market. We investigate and prosecute a range of offences, primarily relating to personal or company insolvencies.

7. You can now subscribe to get e-mail alerts from The Insolvency Service. To subscribe, go to our website The Insolvency Service | BIS and you will see a button to “sign up for email alerts and newsletters”, or click on the following link: https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/UKBIS/subscriber/new