Overseas property couple banned as directors
A HUSBAND and wife from Lancashire who ran a company that claimed to act as a sales agency selling properties in Spain and Portugal have been disqualified from being company directors for for eight years each.
William Mark Bingham, 44 and Janet Anne Bingham, 53 of Aughton, Lancashire have both given undertakings banning them from managing or controlling a company or being directors until July 2019.
The bans follow an investigation by The Insolvency Service’s Company Investigations Team in Manchester.
The investigation found Millennium Property Investment Limited, which traded as ‘Owner Invest’, never completed a sale throughout its less than two-year existence. At the time the company was placed into liquidation on 19 March 2009 it owed creditors of £757,908.
Robert Burns, head of investigations and enforcement at The Insolvency Service said: “The Insolvency Service found no evidence that a single sale was ever completed on behalf of customers who paid deposits on properties in Spain and Portugal through ‘Owner Invest’.
“Anyone considering purchasing a property overseas should ensure they use a recommended sales agency and that they take independent legal advice before committing to any contact.”
In signing the Undertakings, the directors did not dispute that whilst directors of Millennium Property Investments Limited, they
:: failed to ensure that deposits totalling £435,814 taken from 82 customers from February 2008 to March 2009, were either paid over to the developer or refunded causing those customers to lose at least £435,814.
:: failed to ensure that Millennium maintained and /or preserved any accounting records and failed to deliver up such accounting records to, or cooperate with, the joint liquidators.
The Insolvency Service said in the absence of accounting records for Millennium and/or satisfactory explanations, it had not been possible to verify the financial dealings of the company and ensure that all the assets and monies of the company have been properly accounted for.
