The directors were also found to have taken £2m of investors’ money while the companies were insolvent.

The High Court has wound up seven companies run from an office in Mayfair, London, after an Insolvency Service investigation found that their marketing of high risk mini-bonds, used to fund property development projects, was misleading.

The investigation also found that the principal directors, Christopher John Madelin, 36, and Oliver James Mason, 33, continued to take investors’ money after the companies were insolvent.

The companies involved were four unregulated mini-bond investment vehicles, Magna Investments X Ltd, MIX2 Ltd, MIX3 Ltd and MIXG Ltd, an associated group and brand holding company Magna Asset Management Ltd, an operational company Magna Project Management Ltd, and a consultancy/administration company MIX Ops Ltd.