A Bournemouth-based director of two recruitment companies has been disqualified from acting as a director for six years for filing inaccurate financial accounts, following an investigation by the Insolvency Service (IS).

Julian East has given an undertaking that he will not act as a director of a limited company from 27 February 2013 to 2019. He was director of two connected companies Orange Angel Ltd (OAL) and Orange People Solution Group (OPSG), both of which were based in the City of London. OPSG also had offices in Bristol and Manchester.

The IS found that East allowed accounts for OAL to be filed at Companies House that exaggerated the financial health of the company, including inflating turnover by £4.2m.

With regard to OPSG, the IS said that East's conduct put himself ahead of the company's other creditors, in breach of his duty as a director. On 7 April 2010 he authorised a transfer of £62,793 from the company's bank account to his personal bank account in settlement of his director's loan instead of paying off more than £370,000 in unpaid taxes.

Mark Bruce, a chief examiner at the IS said: 'Directors of all companies, especially of those experiencing financial difficulties, have a duty to act in the best interests of creditors. Arranging repayment of their own personal loans ahead of others is a clear disregard of this duty; as is filing inaccurate information about their company's financial position, since creditors trust these reports.'