The director of the company responsible for developing Liverpool’s Chinatown has been disqualified for seven years following an investigation by the Insolvency Service
David Green from Liverpool signed a disqualification undertaking. The ban prevents him from directly or indirectly becoming involved, without the permission of the court, in the promotion, formation or management of a company.
Bilt Group Limited was incorporated in February 2016 as the vehicle to carry out significant construction projects in Liverpool, particularly in the Chinatown area.
However, in December 2016 Bilt Groups’ principle customer terminated the company’s contract as they weren’t satisfied with the standard of work delivered.
Without revenue coming into the company from the principal funder, Bilt Group was unable to pay its debts and entered into liquidation, owing £590,000 to creditors.
Insolvency practitioners were appointed to wind-up the company when they reported to the Insolvency Service that payments worth in excess of £1m had been paid by Bilt Group to third parties and were not necessarily legitimate business expenditure.
Investigators discovered that David Green caused Bilt Group to move around £375,000 to a separate company which was also under David Green’s control, while payments in excess of £660,000 were made to third parties not clearly linked to the company’s trading activities.
Further investigations found that there was no evidence within Bilt Group’s records that these payments were genuine company expenditure.
On 6 December 2018 the Secretary of State accepted a 7-year disqualification undertaking from David Green and his ban was effective from 27 December 2018
Martin Gitner, Deputy Head of Insolvent Investigations for the Insolvency Service, said: “David Green was trusted with funds to carry out important redevelopment projects in Liverpool. But he blatantly disregarded his responsibilities when he paid significant sums to third parties totally unconnected to the building works.
“Seven years is a significant ban and should serve as a warning to other directors that there are serious consequences if you are found misusing company funds.”
