Two directors of an industrial laundry installation firm who set up a ‘phoenix’ company while disqualified from running a business have been fined a total of £182,700
Colin Marsh, 54, and Robert Farrell, 53, both from Halifax, appeared at Bradford Crown Court in December where Marsh was ordered to repay £133,000 within three months or face 18 months in prison and Farrell was ordered to pay just over £49,700 over the same period or face nine months in prison.
The pair were directors of Direct Laundry Installations Limited, based in Halifax, which supplied and fitted trade laundry installations, before it went into liquidation in October 2015.
But before the company’s liquidation, they set up a second company, Direct Laundry and Steam Installations Limited. In setting up the new company, the directors breached insolvency law as the business had a similar name, traded from the same address, and carried out the same activities as the liquidated company.
The two were convicted of acting as directors while disqualified and using a prohibited company name in February 2022.
Investigators from the Insolvency Service’s Financial Investigation Unit then carried out further investigations and in December 2023, Bradford Crown Court ordered for the money they had gained improperly to be confiscated.
Alexander Grierson, Senior Accredited Financial Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said:
The Financial Investigation Unit team has powers to conduct confiscation investigations into people who have been convicted of criminal offences or offences that result in a financial benefit.
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