Tag: Insolvency Service

The press release issued by the Insolvency Service on 2 June 2026.

• Leanne Richardson was the director of ESL Consultancy Services Ltd, which generated almost 38,000 spam text complaints
• ESL Consultancy Services Ltd was fined £200,000 by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) but went into liquidation without paying – the firm had hired another company to send the messages to up to 546,000 numbers a day
• Richardson, of Horsham in West Sussex, has been banned as a company director for six years

The boss of a West Sussex firm which triggered almost 38,000 complaints for unlawful nuisance texts has been banned as a company director.

Leanne Richardson was the director of ESL Consultancy Services Ltd, which hired another company to send the spam texts to customers without their consent.

The 44-year-old’s company promoted high-interest rate loans through the messages, which its affiliate was able to send to 546,000 phone numbers every single day.

Richardson, of The Boulevard, Horsham, has now been disqualified as a company director for six years.

ESL Consultancy Services Ltd was fined £200,000 by the ICO in December 2024 but went into liquidation the following May without having paid any of the fine.

The ICO also handed out enforcement notices to Taipan Trading Ltd and its sole director Daniel Bentley, who were the senders of the texts.

ICO investigations revealed Bentley and his company sent more than 2.5 million unsolicited direct marketing text messages in 2022 and 2023.

Simon Gillett, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said:

Illegal spam texts are not just a nuisance. They can cause severe anxiety and distress to vulnerable people.

Leanne Richardson and her company may not have actually sent the texts but there is no doubt they were the driving force behind the operation.

Richardson has demonstrated she is unfit to be a company director and we will continue to work with partners to take action against those who prey on those most at risk from this kind of exploitation.

Andy Curry, Head of Investigations at the ICO, said:

We welcome today’s disqualification. Leanne Richardson was director of a company that knew the law but deliberately chose to ignore it for financial gain.

As in this case, complainants tell us about the distress that unlawful marketing messages can cause and we will continue to take action against the people and organisations who are responsible for sending them.

Our Financial Investigation Unit continues to work closely with the Insolvency Service to bring companies and directors to account. By disrupting the non-compliant activities of directors such as Leanne Richardson, we can help ensure they can’t easily resurface under a different name and continue to cause further harm to people.

The spam messages were sent under orders from Richardson and ESL Consultancy Services Ltd between September 2022 and December 2023.

A total of 37,961 complaints were made to the 7726 SPAM reporting service, with a further 16 directly to the ICO.

ESL Consultancy Services Ltd also took steps to try and conceal the identity of the sender of the messages by using unregistered SIM cards.

The Secretary of State for Business and Trade accepted a disqualification undertaking from Richardson, and her ban started on Tuesday 2 June. 

The undertaking prevents her from being involved in the promotion, formation or management of a company, without the permission of the court.

Further information

• Leanne Richardson is of The Boulevard, Horsham. Her date of birth is 30 March 1982

The press release issued by the Insolvency Service on 2 June 2026.

• Ishfaq Hussain secretly moved £250,000 of development land out of a failing company leaving creditors with nothing
• Hussain told investigators the land had gone to a stranger when it had gone to the mother of his eight children
• He signed documents under a false name, denied it was him, and was caught on CCTV

A Bradford housebuilder who transferred development land worth £250,000 out of his failing construction company to a firm controlled by his partner has been sentenced.

Ishfaq Hussain signed over the two pieces of land from Reeson Homes Ltd, a company where he was sole director, to Paddington Homes Ltd, as creditors closed in and the company faced insolvency.

Paddington Homes Ltd was incorporated on the same day Hussain instructed solicitors to transfer the land, with his partner appointed as its sole director.

No money changed hands despite transfer documents falsely recording a payment of £250,250.

The 54-year-old then claimed the land had been sold to an unconnected third party and that payment had been made.

Hussain, of Sunbridge Road, Bradford, pleaded guilty on the first day of his trial earlier this year to an offence of fraudulently transferring company property under the Insolvency Act 1986.

He was sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for 12 months, when he appeared at Leeds Crown Court on Monday 1 June.

Hussain was also disqualified as a company director for four years and ordered to complete 180 hours of unpaid work.

Mark Stephens, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said:

Ishfaq Hussain deliberately moved his company’s most valuable asset into the hands of a connected company at the very moment his creditors were closing in. This was not a mistake or a misunderstanding but a calculated attempt to ensure that people owed money would never be paid.

Hussain repeatedly lied to investigators, denied any personal connection to his partner’s company, and even used false names to cover his tracks.

Directors who think they can defraud their creditors and then lie their way out of it should be in no doubt that we have the tools and the determination to hold them to account.

Reeson Homes Ltd was set up in Bradford by Hussain in November 2014.

In 2015 and 2016, the company purchased two adjoining pieces of land on the south side of Wilsden Road, Allerton, Bradford, known as Sandy Lane, with the intention of developing them for housing.

Hussain engaged a number of contractors to carry out development work, running up significant debts that Reeson Homes Ltd did not pay.

By early 2017, the company had no income and its debts to creditors exceeded £183,000. The Sandy Lane land was its only significant asset.

Hussain instructed solicitors to transfer the Sandy Lane land out of Reeson Homes Ltd on the same day that Paddington Homes Ltd was incorporated in February 2017.

Paddington Homes Ltd was run by Hussain’s partner who he later repeatedly told investigators was merely a business acquaintance he owed money to.

The two pieces of land were transferred to Paddington Homes Ltd by deed the following month, with paperwork recording a sale price of £250,000. No money was ever paid.

A winding-up petition was issued against Reeson Homes Ltd by a company owed more than £40,000 for work carried out on the Sandy Lane site. Reeson Homes Ltd was wound-up by the court in June of that year.

In the months that followed, Hussain made repeated false statements about the transfer to insolvency practitioners, creditors and official investigators.

At a creditors’ meeting, he described the land as having been sold to an “unconnected party”.

He told the Official Receiver – a court-appointed official who investigates how and why companies fail – he had no personal connection to Paddington Homes Ltd.

Hussain also signed a personal guarantee for work carried out on the Sandy Lane site under the false name “Adam Khan”, using a contact number registered to him.

When CCTV footage from the day the guarantee was signed was later obtained, it showed Hussain as the person who had signed it. He nevertheless denied having signed any personal guarantee and claimed “Adam” was a childhood nickname.

The land was subsequently recovered through civil proceedings brought by the liquidator at Bradford County Court in 2019.

Further information

• Ishfaq Hussain is of Sunbridge Road, Bradford. His date of birth is 14 January 1972

The press release issued by the Insolvency Service on 20 May 2026.

Fraudster abused Covid support schemes and insolvency rules.

• Lucien Ekamba-Elombe set up a phoenix company while bankrupt after failing to pay his council tax and hid his involvement behind an unwitting front man
• He fraudulently claimed a £30,000 Covid Bounce Back Loan he had no right to and transferred thousands to his own account
• Ekamba-Elombe also bought two properties using more than £190,000 of company money while banned as a director by a court

A Newcastle recruitment consultant has been sentenced for a string of offences including Covid fraud, flouting director disqualifications and running a phoenix company while bankrupt.

Lucien Ekamba-Elombe set up a recruitment firm under a similar name to his previous failed company while legally banned from doing so after failing to pay council tax.

He secretly ran it through an unwitting front man to hide his involvement.

The 50-year-old then fraudulently claimed a £30,000 Covid Bounce Back Loan he had no right to apply for, transferring more than £12,000 to his own account.

He also carried on running the company even after being banned as a director by a court, helping himself to more than £190,000 of company money to buy two properties.

Ekamba-Elombe, of Union Hall Road, was sentenced to 22 months in prison, suspended for two years, when he appeared at Newcastle Crown Court on Wednesday 20 May.

He was also disqualified as a company director for seven years and ordered to complete 250 hours of unpaid work.

Ekamba-Elombe had previously pleaded guilty to the offences in October last year. A warrant was issued for his arrest after he failed to appear at court in February and he was apprehended in April.

David Snasdell, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said:

Lucien Ekamba-Elombe’s criminal actions were calculated, persistent and wide-ranging. This was a prolonged and deliberate course of offending that touched almost every aspect of insolvency law.

Ekamba-Elombe abused Covid support funds, ran a phoenix company while bankrupt and carried on as if a director ban simply did not apply to him. He even used company money to buy properties for himself.

Rooting out Covid fraudsters, cracking down on abusive phoenix companies and holding disqualified directors to account are all central to the Insolvency Service’s work – protecting honest businesses, creditors and the public from criminals such as Ekamba-Elombe who think the rules do not apply to them.

Ekamba-Elombe was the director of United Recruitment and Employment Limited, which went into liquidation in January 2019. He was made bankrupt in July that year following non-payment of council tax.

It is a criminal offence to act as a company director while bankrupt. However, Ekamba-Elombe ignored his bankruptcy and set up Unify Group Limited in September 2019.

Unify Group Limited continued trading under a similar name to its insolvent predecessor, breaching the Insolvency Act 1986, which bans directors from reusing a company name to evade creditors after insolvency.

Ekamba-Elombe concealed his involvement in the new company by appointing a nominee director who had no knowledge of the appointment.

In December 2020, Ekamba-Elombe fraudulently obtained a £30,000 Bounce Back Loan for Unify Group Limited.

By the end of the year, he had transferred more than £12,000 to his personal account across 16 transactions, with a further £8,000 paid to a company or individual in France with no known links to Unify Group Limited.

Ekamba-Elombe was disqualified as a company director for five years in January 2022 following investigations into this misconduct at United Recruitment and Employment Limited.

The disqualification prevented him from managing a company until 2027.

However, he again ignored the restrictions placed on him, continuing to act as director of Unify Group Limited, even using company funds to finance the purchase of two properties.

Insolvency Service investigations revealed that Ekamba-Elombe transferred more than £190,000 from the company to his personal account between June and October 2022.

Funds were then transferred to the solicitors who conducted the conveyancing.

The Insolvency Service is seeking to recover the fraudulently obtained funds under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.

Further information

• Lucien Ekamba-Elombe is of Union Hall Road, Newcastle upon Tyne. His date of birth is 12 May 1976

The press release issued by the Insolvency Service on 19 May 2026.

South London director disqualified for Bounce Back Loan abuse.

• Ademilson Nascimento secured £46,500 in Bounce Back Loan funds for a construction company which never traded
• His actions were described by the judge as “bluntly appalling”, “dishonest”, and “deliberate”
• Nascimento has been banned as a company director for 15 years, the maximum period possible

A South London man who secured Covid support funds for a construction firm which never traded has been disqualified as a company director for the maximum period of 15 years.

Ademilson Nascimento obtained a £46,500 Bounce Back Loan in July 2020 by falsely claiming that his Buildan Construction Ltd company had a turnover of £192,000.

The 53-year-old also failed to use the money for the economic benefit of his business as required under the terms of the scheme, because the company never traded.

Indeed, the company filed dormant accounts for 2019, 2020 and 2021.

Nascimento, of Ridgemount Close, was disqualified as a company director for 15 years at a hearing of the High Court in London on Tuesday 28 April.

His ban started on Tuesday 19 May.

He was also ordered to pay costs of £5,667.

Simon Gillett, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said:

Ademilson Nascimento’s conduct was described by the judge as ‘bluntly appalling’ and it’s clear to see why.

His selfish actions caused real harm to the public purse and showed utter contempt for a scheme designed to support genuine businesses during the pandemic.

The Insolvency Service will not tolerate those who abuse their position as a company director, as this lengthy disqualification demonstrates.

Nascimento’s disqualification runs through until May 2041 and prevents him from being involved in the promotion, formation or management of a company, without the permission of the court.

Buildan Construction Ltd went into liquidation in April 2023 and was dissolved in December 2025.

Further information

• Ademilson Nascimento is of Ridgemount Close, London. His date of birth is 9 July 1972

The press release issued by the Insolvency Service on 18 May 2026.

• Philip Walker used the Atherton scheme to walk away from more than half a million pounds of debt owed by his cleaning company
• He made net payments of almost £200,000 from his insolvent business into a new company he controlled, knowing Solus Facilities Limited could not pay its creditors
• Walker has been disqualified as a company director for seven years following Insolvency Service investigations into users of the scheme

A cleaning boss has been banned as a company director after transferring almost £200,000 out of his insolvent business into his new company.

Leicestershire-based Philip Walker was the director of Solus Facilities Limited, a company providing cleaning services for restaurants.

However, by April 2023, the company was in financial difficulty, and unable to pay its debts.

Instead of following standard insolvency procedures, the 44-year-old used the Atherton scheme to avoid paying his debts, leaving creditors more than half a million pounds out of pocket.

Atherton was advertised as a corporate rescue service where directors of distressed companies were encouraged to sell their businesses as an “alternative” to entering formal insolvency proceedings such as liquidation.

Walker paid Atherton Corporate (UK) Ltd £16,500 in three instalments across the summer of 2023 for it to purchase Solus Facilities Limited’s liabilities.

During this period, Walker also set up a new phoenix company, Carbon White Group Ltd, of which he was director.

Solus Facilities Limited did not trade after Walker resigned as director and was replaced by Karen Mortimer, one of Atherton’s main enablers, in December 2023.

Despite this, Walker accessed the company’s account, making net payments of £198,100 to Carbon White Group Ltd between November 2023 and January 2024 when he knew that Solus Facilities Limited was insolvent.

Solus Facilities Limited went into liquidation in September 2024 owing creditors £513,090.

Walker, of Wykes Close, Quorn, has been disqualified as a company director for seven years.

Dave Magrath, Director of Investigation and Enforcement Services at the Insolvency Service, said:

Philip Walker made payments to his new company when he knew his former business had no reasonable prospect of avoiding liquidation, leaving creditors seriously out of pocket.

Indeed, many of these transfers were made when Walker had resigned as a director of Solus Facilities Limited yet was still accessing the company’s bank account.

These actions are deeply damaging to creditors and are completely unacceptable. Those who deliberately use companies repeatedly to avoid debts – known as abusive phoenixism – should be in no doubt that we will pursue them using all the enforcement tools at our disposal.

Mortimer, 67, was disqualified as a company director for seven years having put the creditors of 138 companies at risk of financial loss after taking control of businesses referred to her by Atherton Corporate UK (Ltd) and Atherton Corporate Rescue Limited.

Her sister Joanna Seawright, 55, also received a seven-year ban for her role in the Atherton scheme.

Atherton enabler Neville Taylor, 59, was disqualified as a company director for nine years in January 2025.

Suzanne Harley-Davies, 68, who failed to ensure her Atherton-linked companies operated for legitimate corporate purposes, was banned for four years in May this year.

Atherton Corporate (UK) Ltd and Atherton Corporate Rescue Limited, along with five companies which enabled the running of the scheme, were wound-up in the public interest in the summer of 2024.

Four more companies which formed part of the Atherton scheme – Atherton Corporate Partners LLP, Jones & Harlington Ltd, TYA GRP Ltd and TYA Two GRP Ltd – went into compulsory liquidation in early 2026 after Insolvency Service investigations.

Criminal investigations into the Atherton scheme remain ongoing. Six search warrants have been executed across the UK in the last three months with the support of the police.

The Secretary of State for Business and Trade accepted a disqualification undertaking from Walker, and his ban started on Friday 15 May.

It prevents him from being involved in the promotion, formation or management of a company, without the permission of the court.

Further information

• Philip Walker is of Wykes Close, Quorn, Leicestershire. His date of birth is 10 November 1981
• Solus Facilities Limited (company number 09796369)

The press release issued by the Insolvency Service on 13 May 2026.

Director made false declarations on two separate government-backed loan applications.

• Harjinder Singh legitimately secured a £20,000 Bounce Back Loan in May 2020 before fraudulently obtaining a second £30,000 loan the following month
• He failed to declare the fraudulent second loan when applying for a £95,000 Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan later that year
• Singh was handed a suspended sentence and director disqualification after Insolvency Service investigations into his fraudulent actions

A West Midlands property developer and lettings agent has been sentenced after fraudulently obtaining two separate Covid support loans designed to help businesses through the pandemic.

Harjinder Singh had already claimed a legitimate £20,000 Bounce Back Loan for HP Property (International) Ltd in May 2020 when he went back for more the following month.

The 44-year-old lied to a second bank, falsely declaring it was his first application, and secured a £30,000 Bounce Back Loan he was not entitled to.

He then failed to declare the £30,000 loan when he applied for a £95,000 Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan later that year.

Singh, of Stonnall Road, Aldridge, was sentenced to 22 months in prison, suspended for two years, when he appeared at Birmingham Crown Court on Tuesday 12 May.

He was also disqualified as a company director for seven years, ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work, and 20 days of rehabilitation activities.

David Snasdell, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said:

Harjinder Singh exploited Covid support schemes that were created in good faith to help businesses survive one of the most difficult periods in recent memory.

He made deliberate false declarations across two separate applications to keep money he had no right to.

The Insolvency Service remains committed to ensuring that Covid fraudsters face the consequences of their actions.

HP Property (International) Ltd was set up in January 2016 and traded as a residential property developer and letting agent.

In an interview with the Insolvency Service, Singh acknowledged the application for a £30,000 Bounce Back Loan broke the rules of the scheme, admitting he had not read the terms and conditions and saying “we just clicked it”.

Singh’s application for a Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan – a separate government-backed scheme to help small and medium-sized businesses safeguard against lost revenues and disrupted cashflow during the pandemic – was made in October 2020.

Under the scheme’s rules, any outstanding Bounce Back Loan had to be repaid using the new funding, meaning Singh was legally required to disclose it.

He disclosed the first £20,000 Bounce Back Loan which was duly repaid as the scheme required, but failed to declare the fraudulent £30,000, allowing him to keep the money.

HP Property (International) Ltd went into compulsory liquidation in November 2021 after the lender of the business interruption loan went to court to recover the money it was owed.

The Insolvency Service is seeking to recover the fraudulently obtained funds under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.

Further information

• Harjinder Singh is of Stonnall Road, Aldridge, West Midlands. His date of birth is 4 January 1982
• HP Property (International) Ltd (company number 09943518)

The press release issued by the Insolvency Service on 11 December 2025.

• Derby-based Temidola Ojelabi illegally obtained £80,000 in Covid support by making two separate Bounce Back Loan applications 
• Funds were spent on share dealing platforms instead of supporting his business through the pandemic 
• The 43-year-old has been jailed and banned as a company director following investigations by the Insolvency Service

A Derby businessman who used Covid support scheme funds on online trading platforms has been jailed. 

Temidola Ojelabi secured £80,000 across two Bounce Back Loan applications for Platinum Gates Limited in 2020 when businesses were only entitled to a single loan. 

Money from the loans was then used on online trading platforms when it should have been spent supporting his business. 

Ojelabi, 43, of Glossop Street, Derby, was sentenced to two years and four months in prison at Derby Crown Court on Wednesday 10 December. 

He was also disqualified as a company director for eight years. 

David Snasdell, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said: 

Temidola Ojelabi exploited a scheme designed to support small and medium-sized businesses through the pandemic, securing two Bounce Back Loans when you were only allowed one. 

Two different turnover figures were given on each application, and the funds were not used for the economic benefit of his business – a fundamental requirement of the scheme. Instead, money was spent on online trading platforms. 

Ojelabi’s actions showed a complete disregard for taxpayer money and the rules designed to support legitimate businesses.

Platinum Gates Limited was set up in October 2018 with Ojelabi as its sole director. Ojelabi said the company was an e-commerce venture and would buy and sell goods from various warehouse premises. 

In May 2020, Ojelabi secured £35,000 in Bounce Back Loan funds for the company after declaring its turnover was £150,000. 

Within one week, £34,000 of the funds were transferred to his personal bank account. 

Later the same month, £29,800 was moved from his personal account to a share dealing service. 

Ojelabi made a second Bounce Back Loan application in June 2020, this time applying for £45,000 and claiming his company’s turnover was £180,000. 

All the money was transferred to Ojelabi’s personal account within eight days. 

In interviews, Ojelabi accepted he took out the Bounce Back Loans but denied this was done fraudulently. 

Platinum Gates Limited entered liquidation in May 2021, with both loans unpaid. 

The Insolvency Service is seeking to recover the fraudulently obtained funds under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.

The press release issued by the Insolvency Service on 9 October 2025.

• Haralambos Ioannou fraudulently applied for two separate Bounce Back Loans worth a total of £100,000 for Opti-Bond (GB) Ltd 
• He spent large amounts of one loan on gambling, crypto investments, cash withdrawals and payments to his then wife  
• The 49-year-old received a suspended sentence of 22-months in custody with 150 hours of unpaid work to be completed

The boss of a glazing firm who fraudulently applied for two Covid Bounce Back loans and spent significant sums on gambling and crypto investments has received a sentence of 22 months in custody, suspended for two years. 

Just months into the pandemic, Haralombos Ioannou secured two maximum-value £50,000 Bounce Back Loans when businesses were only allowed one.   

The 49-year-old used the first loan legitimately for his glass-fitting company, Opti-Bond (GB) Ltd.  

However, money from the second loan was used for personal purposes, breaking the rules of the scheme. 

Ioannou, of Cow Lane, Edlesborough, Buckinghamshire, but previously of South London, was given a 22-month suspended sentence at Southwark Crown Court on Tuesday 7 October. 

Ioannou was also disqualified as a company director for five years and ordered to pay £40,000 in compensation as well as complete 150 hours of unpaid work.

David Snasdell, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said:

Haralambos Ioannou exploited the Bounce Back Loan Scheme by fraudulently applying for a second Bounce Back Loan when companies could apply for one loan of up to £50,000 for support during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

He not only fraudulently applied for a second loan but then spent it on activities which had nothing to do with his company’s operations such as gambling, crypto-investments, cash withdrawals and payments to his then partner. 

The Insolvency Service remains committed to taking robust action against those who abused the Bounce Back Loan Scheme. Government-backed schemes were a lifeline for businesses during the pandemic, and we will continue to pursue those who deliberately  exploited this support at the taxpayers’ expense.

Ioannou was the sole director of Opti-Bond (GB) Ltd, which was set up in October 2019. 

The 49-year-old submitted an application for a first loan of £50,000 in May 2020, stating his company’s 2019 turnover was £216,000. 

He then submitted an application for a second loan of £50,000, but this time declared Opti-Bond’s turnover in 2019 was £236,000. 

Ioannou received the £100,000 within an eight-day period between late June and early July 2020. 

After receiving the second loan, Ioannou made 38 transactions totalling almost £20,000 to his personal account. 

In the same period, around £25,000 of payments were made to gambling companies from this personal account. 

Aside from gambling, approximately £8,000 of the second loan was transferred to investment and crypto-investment companies. 

Almost £6,000 of the loan was withdrawn from ATM machines, whilst a further £16,000 of this loan was also transferred to an account in the name of Ioannou’s now ex-wife. 

Opti-Bond (GB) Ltd entered liquidation in November 2021 but Ioannou failed to inform the liquidator of the company’s first Bounce Back Loan as he was legally required to do.

Further information

• Haralambos Ioannou is of Cow Lane, Edlesborough. His date of birth is 21 June 1976. 
• Opti-Bond (GB) Ltd (company number 08716051) 

The press release issued by the Insolvency Service on 18 August 2025.

Companies wound-up by the High Court following Insolvency Service investigations.

• EDC Group NE Ltd, UK EDC Ltd and UK TCF Limited have been shut down by the High Court after keeping more than £50,000 in funds they collected on behalf of clients
• The three companies falsely claimed decades of experience despite being recently established, and used fake testimonials and misleading websites to deceive small businesses into paying upfront fees
• Clients paid fees of hundreds of pounds but received no service, with the companies becoming uncontactable while bank records showed payments were made to the director, bookmakers and football clubs

Three connected debt collection companies which kept more than £50,000 in client funds they collected on their behalf have been shut down.

Sunderland-based EDC Group NE Ltd, UK EDC Ltd and UK TCF Limited falsely presented themselves as professional agencies with decades of experience while taking money from both clients and their debtors.

The companies targeted small businesses through unsolicited phone calls, using misleading information to convince them to sign contracts for debt collection services.

Victims reported paying instruction fees and then being unable to contact the companies, despite assurances that collected funds would be safeguarded.

At least £54,847 in funds was collected and retained by the companies without being passed back to their clients.

The three companies were all wound-up at the High Court in Manchester on Friday 15 August.

David Hope, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said:

These companies systematically deceived their clients by presenting themselves as professional debt collection agencies when they were nothing more than operations designed to take money from clients.

The victims trusted these companies to collect debts on their behalf but instead found themselves unable to contact anyone after paying upfront fees, while money that was collected was kept by the companies.

We will continue to take robust action against those who prey on both creditors seeking legitimate debt recovery services and debtors who believe they are making payments to settle their obligations.

All three companies falsely claimed to have “been collecting unpaid debts, resolving disputes and carrying out investigations and research for more than 25 years.”

EDC Group NE Ltd was only set up in March 2022, with UK EDC Ltd incorporated in August 2023, and UK TCF Limited in December 2023.

The companies operated using nearly identical websites, with UK EDC and UK TCF sharing the same website.

False claims on the websites included descriptions of the companies as “market leaders” with “cutting edge collection activity technology” and 65 positive testimonials which presented an inaccurate picture of the companies as having a successful track record in debt recovery.

Insolvency Service investigations revealed sophisticated deceptive tactics, with the companies operating interchangeably to maximise their improper conduct.

One victim paid £750 to UK EDC Ltd for collection of a debt of more than £20,000 but when the debtor made a payment of £12,143 it was collected by the connected company UK TCF Limited operating as ‘The Creditor’s Friend’. The victim was never informed of this collection and never received any of the money recovered on his behalf.

In another example, a woman who paid £600 to recover £15,000 in debts described how EDC Group NE Ltd claimed to have quickly found the debtors’ addresses and new business locations, even boasting of posing as a tax officer to obtain information.

She said: “They gained my trust and gave me false hope. I see now that this was all a confidence trick to gain my trust and impress me so that I would willingly part with my money.”

Complaints to Action Fraud saw one business owner report that the companies had taken payments estimated at £30,000 – £50,000 from his clients alone.

Other victims reported paying instruction fees ranging from £350 to £750 before the companies became completely uncontactable, with phone lines permanently engaged and no voicemail facilities.

Analysis of EDC Group NE Ltd’s bank account revealed that of the £347,837 in total payments out, almost £160,000 went directly to the director, with an additional £78,071 paid to various individuals as salary, gifts and commissions.

Investigators also found payments of more than £17,000 to various bookmakers, £9,679 to football clubs, and £21,362 to hostelries, hotels, restaurants and supermarkets.

No payments to clients for debts collected on their behalf were found.

Bank accounts for the other two companies showed similar patterns, including unexplained payments to EDC Group NE Ltd.

All three companies failed to provide any accounting or financial records to the Insolvency Service. The registered company director failed to co-operate throughout the investigation, ignoring all attempts by investigators to locate and communicate with the companies and those in control of them.

The failure to provide financial records also prevented investigators from establishing whether the companies operated independently or used phoenix practices – repeatedly closing and reopening under new names to evade responsibility and confuse clients.

The Official Receiver has been appointed as liquidator of EDC Group NE Ltd, UK EDC Ltd and UK TCF Limited.