An ICAEW-qualified accountant from Liverpool has been disqualified from acting as a company director for four-and-a-half years, following the insolvency of his contractors payroll company which collapsed owing HMRC almost £400,000
Chartered accountant Alan Verinde, was the managing director of V&AES Ltd which operated as a payroll company for subcontractors working for third party companies.
As such it was paid gross sums in bulk by third party companies and was responsible for deducting PAYE from their employees and paying it to HMRC on their behalf. It had minimal tax liabilities in respect of its own employees but significant amounts due in respect of the sub contractors.
In February 2014 the company went into voluntary liquidation, with an estimated deficiency of £201,980.
An Insolvency Service investigation found that from September 2012, when V&AES Ltd was unable to pay its debts to HMRC as and when due until February 2014, Verinder caused the company to make payments to directors and connected businesses of £406,240.
This meant he breached his duty to act in the best interests of the company by increasing his borrowings from the company’s directors’ loan account from £22,125 to £163,091.
During this time debts owed to HMRC increased from £53,974 to £395,274. As a result, the payments to the directors and connected businesses were at the risk of HMRC.
In June 2016 Verinder paid £210,000 to the liquidator of V&AES in full and final settlement of his director’s loan account and the payments that had been made to connected businesses.
Ross Verinder, Graham Rummens and Carol Verinder who were also directors of the company have also been disqualified, for allowing Verinder to increase the debt he owed to the company when the company was unable to pay its debts owed to HMRC.
Ross Verinder, a licensed financial adviser, and Rummens, a chartered certified accountant, have been disqualified for a period of three years each. Carol Verinder has been disqualified for a period of two years.
Robert Clarke, head of insolvent investigations north at the Insolvency Service, said: ‘Directors who put their own personal financial interests above those of creditors damage confidence in doing business and are corrosive to the health of the local economy.
‘These bans should serve as a warning to other directors tempted to help themselves first; you have a duty to your creditors and if you neglect this duty you could be investigated by the Insolvency Service and lose the privilege of limited liability trading.’
Report by Pat Sweet
