FORMER CRYSTAL PALACE FOOTBALL BOSS BANNED FROM MANAGEMENT

16 Dec 2003 12:45 PM

A director of a professional football club and other businesses has given a Disqualification Undertaking not to hold directorships or take any part in company management for 10 years.

The Undertaking by Mark Goldberg, age 40, of Farringleys, Holwood Estate, Westerham Road, Keston, Kent, was given in respect of his conduct as a director of Crystal Palace FC (1986) Limited, which carried out business from premises at Selhurst Park, London SE25 6PU.

Acceptance of the Undertaking on 9 October 2003 prevents Mr Goldberg from being a director of a company or, in any way, whether directly or indirectly, being concerned or taking part in the promotion, formation or management of a company for 10 years. The
disqualification took effect on 30 October 2003.

Crystal Palace FC (1986) Limited (CPFC) was placed into
administration on 31 March 1999. It had estimated debts of £30 million owed to creditors and some 40 staff were made redundant.

Mr Goldberg was also a director of the following failed companies in which the Secretary of State for Trade & Industry considered there was unfit conduct:

- Allowclear Limited (Allowclear), a holding company for CPFC that went into liquidation on 26 May 1999 with estimated debts of £4.3 million owed to creditors;

- MG Investments Limited (MGI), a holding company for a sports management and leisure industry group, which went into liquidation on 12 March 1999 with estimated debts of £4.1million owed to creditors;

- Land Developments Corporation Limited (LDC), which went into liquidation on 12 March 1999 with no assets and liabilities of £2.5 million;

- Data Scanning Services Limited (DSS), which went into liquidation on 22 April 1999 with no assets and liabilities of £1.2 million.

Matters of unfit conduct not disputed by Mr Goldberg were that he:

With regard to CPFC
1 took unwarranted risks with creditors' money by causing or permitting CPFC to continue to trade between June 1998 and 31 March 1999 (when the company went into administration);

2 caused or permitted CPFC to incur a liability of £1,200,000 to Mr Padovano, a footballer who played for Crystal Palace, a collateral benefit of which was the settling of his personal liabilities and those of an associated company, Sports Management Corporation Group Limited;

3 caused or permitted a minute purporting to record a resolution of the board of CPFC on 28 October 1998 approving an agreement under which CPFC was to pay Mr Padovano £1,200,000, to be produced: in fact no such resolution had been passed;

4 caused or permitted CPFC to agree to forego the payment to it of £400,000 by Wolves in return for Wolves forgoing the payment of an equivalent sum from him;

5 failed to ensure that CPFC's board was aware of the onerous terms on which CPFC was to employ Mr Venables as its head coach and, to the contrary, caused or permitted the board to be misled as to such terms;

6 failed to ensure that the affairs of CPFC were subject to proper financial control.

With regard to Allowclear

1 failed to ensure that Allowclear maintained and /or preserved adequate accounting records and /or failed to deliver such records.

2 failed to co-operate with the Official Receiver by failing to complete a receipts and payments account in respect of Allowclear (as required by Section 235 of the Insolvency Act 1986, and Rule 4.39 of the Insolvency Rules1986) and with the liquidator of Allowclear by failing to respond to any of his correspondence.

With regard to MGI

1 caused or permitted a loan made by an individual for the benefit of CPFC (which was paid into MGI's bank account) to be used for other purposes despite the fact that he gave an express assurance that the money would immediately be transferred to CPFC;

2 caused or permitted a substantial part of a loan made by Tramp Group Limited to Allowclear for the purchase of shares in CPFC and the working capital requirements of Allowclear and/or CPFC (which was paid into MGI's bank account) to be used for other purposes;

3 caused or permitted all or part of a loan made by the Mark Goldberg Charitable Trust to Allowclear for the purpose of the acquisition by Allowclear of an interest in an Australian football club (which was paid into MGI's bank account) to be used for other purposes;

4 failed to ensure the affairs of MGI were subject to proper financial control.

With regard to LDC
1 caused or permitted LDC to enter into a transaction that conferred a substantial benefit on him, namely the assignment by the company to him of the benefit of a contract for the purchase of the Holwood Estate in return for the payment of £1;

2 caused or permitted LDC to incur liabilities in relation to the Holwood Estate that were not for the benefit of the company but benefited him personally.

With regard to DSS
1 caused or permitted DSS to incur liabilities in respect of salaries, expenses and leased equipment that were not for the benefit of DSS but benefited another company, Synovate Limited.

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.

The Undertaking was given after an investigation by the Public Interest Unit of the Insolvency Service and the launch of a disqualification action by the Insolvency Service on behalf of the Secretary of State.

Notes to editors

1. On 26 November 2003 He's co-director, James Flannagan McAvoy, was found to be unfit by a High Court Judge and the period of disqualification will be determined at a future hearing.

2. The proceedings do not concern Crystal Palace FC (2000) Limited, the company under which Crystal Palace Football Club is now operated.

3. The Insolvency Service Public Interest Unit is headed by an Official Receiver and deals with high profile cases, often involving media attention and mostly requiring in depth investigations. Such cases include companies wound up as a result of petitions presented by the Secretary of State on public interest grounds (not the case in this instance).

4. 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.

5. 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. Insolvency Practitioners 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.

6. 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.

7. 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, and may be made personally liable for the company debts.

8. 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.

9. Companies House maintains a public register of disqualified directors that can be viewed at www.companieshouse.gov.uk. Addresses given are those correct at the time of the company failure, but may not now be current.

10. 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 www.insolvency.gov.uk

Issued on behalf of the Insolvency Service by the Government News Network, London and South East

Regional news releases for Government departments can be viewed at www.gnn.gov.uk

An Executive Agency within the DTI