Directors disqualified as financial franchise scam is exposed

Following an investigation by The Insolvency Service, Christopher Lake and Stephen Knight who ran; Charter Financial Solutions Limited, Charter Financial Solutions (UK) Limited, Finance Select (UK) Limited, Bounce World Limited and Trash Express Limited, have been branded “knowingly reckless” and each banned from taking on company directorships for eight years.
 
The disqualification comes after the investigation found the activities of Lake and Knight to be “knowingly reckless” and “deliberately misleading”.
 
Unsuspecting investors, looking for business opportunities, were conned into taking out franchises for thousands of pounds, on the promise they would receive business training and earn competitive salaries.
 
The directors preyed on individuals who, lured by the promise of a £100k plus earning potential, had poor credit histories and had often struggled to obtain finance opportunities elsewhere.
 
As a result, on May 22 last year, each of the Macclesfield-based companies was placed into liquidation on the grounds of public interest.
 
Lake and Knight were caught out after investigators found they had deliberately given false information to a high street bank in connection with an application for a bank account for Finance Select (UK) Limited. The directors wrongly stated they had never been associated with a business that had a court order of a debt registered against it.

Commenting on the case, Stephen Speed, chief executive of The Insolvency Service, said: “Companies providing deliberately misleading information to lenders and potential investors is serious misconduct and it undermines the confidence the public have in business.”
 
Those directly affected by the scam are being urged to seek professional legal advice immediately.

Source: Debt Management Today