A car dealer who bought and sold luxury cars has been banned from running companies for 13 years after he failed to maintain adequate accounting records
Zaid Fares Al-Safee, from West London, was a registered director of Exotic Global Ltd, a company that sold new cars and light motor vehicles.
The company was first incorporated in 2013 but after almost two years of trading, was placed into creditors’ voluntary liquidation (CVL) in June 2015 and an insolvency practitioner was appointed.
However, Al-Safee failed to deliver Exotic Global Ltd’s accounting records to the insolvency practitioner.
A subsequent investigation by the Insolvency Service was unable to verify who had control of Exotic Global Ltd’s affairs, because of the continued absence of accounting records. This included the income and expenditure of the company, including Al-Safee’s remuneration, the acquisition or subsequent disposal of assets and the full nature of the company’s trading activities.
Unexplained trading activities included the purchase and sale of 14 luxury vehicles in excess of £1.2m, VAT assessments totalling £498,106, and a £318,000 loan, as well as the purchase and sale of 45 vehicles totalling £354,553 and two personalised number plates totalling £40,023.
After a two-day trial, Al-Safee was disqualified for 13 years, banning him from directly or indirectly becoming involved in the promotion, formation or management of a company without the permission of the court.
Ken Beasley, Official Receiver for the Insolvency Service, said: ‘Maintaining and keeping adequate accounting records is a legal requirement for all companies. Failure to do so is serious misconduct and the length of Mr Zaid Fares Al-Safee’s disqualification reflects this.’
Report by Pat Sweet
