A man from Caythorpe in Lincolnshire has been caught running a business even though it breaks the terms of his bankruptcy agreement.
Martin Coaley, 55, declared bankruptcy after his businesses, Badger Commissioning Ltd, failed in January 2002. However, he became the sole director of another company, Badger Consulting Ltd, five years later, even though he was still an undischarged bankrupt who was banned from running any business venture. He took control of the company after his mother resigned her position as director.
Mr Coaley ran the second company for two years before it went into administration with tax debt problems of around £24,000. HM Revenue and Customs investigated Badger Consulting Ltd and found that record keeping was extremely lax at the company and that there was at least £54,000 in income that was unaccounted for.
In August 2010, Mr Coaley was banned for running any kind of company for at least nine years. At a recent hearing at Lincoln Crown Court, he admitted the charges made against him. These included acting as a director whilst an undischarged bankrupt, failing to keep accurate financial records and neglecting to give all of the necessary information to the receiver.
At the hearing, recorder Christopher Goodchild said to Mr Coaley:
“You are no doubt extremely good at your job but as a businessman you are useless.”
Mr Coaley was given a two-year community order including supervision for his misconduct, as well as being ordered to complete 100 hours of unpaid work.
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