Director of sports memorabilia auctions firm banned for 10 years
The boss of a Wirral sports memorabilia auctions company which went into liquidation owing more than £214,000 has been banned from acting as a director for 10 years.
Andrew John Lane, 45, was the sole director of Football Sport Auctions Ltd (FSA), launched in 2010, but which collapsed in April, 2016.
An investigation by the Insolvency Service found that between April 1, 2015, when the company was already in default to clients for auction sale proceeds, and the date of liquidation, Lane failed to ensure that FSA forwarded the auction sale proceeds of further goods to clients.
In auctions which took place between June, 2015 and March, 2016, FSA incurred further liabilities totalling at least £67,536 to at least 39 clients.
At liquidation Lane disclosed that FSA owed at least £104,063 to at least 45 separate clients.
Relevant claims submitted by clients to the liquidator indicated that they related to failures by FSA to forward auction sale proceeds or failed to return unsold goods.
Despite escalating liabilities to clients after April, 2015, Lane continued to enjoy substantial earnings from FSA and items of personal expenditure paid for by the company.
Robert Clarke, group leader of Insolvent Investigations North at The Insolvency Service, said: “Directors who put their own personal financial interests above those of customers and creditors damage confidence in doing business and are corrosive to the health of the local economy.
“This ban should serve as a warning to other directors tempted to help themselves first; you have a duty to your creditors and if you neglect this duty you could be investigated by The Insolvency Service and lose the privilege of limited liability trading.”
