Ian Vanderhook (Bordeaux UK Ltd) has been banned as a UK company director for nine years. The disqualification period started from 18th October 2013. Give the details below Vanderhook looks to have got away relatively lightly with a nine year ban as 15 years is the maximum ban, especially as Vanderhook has failed to cooperate with either the Insolvency Service or the Liquidator.
Unfortunately a ban as a company director still allows Vanderhook to operate as a sole trader or in a partnership – he could, of course, hook up with Andrew Dunne, who was almost certainly the true brains and knowledge behind Bordeaux UK Ltd. Bordeaux Northern Cyprus Partnership has a certain ring to it!
Given the details in the Insolvency Service press release there would appear to be good grounds for a police investigation and criminal charges.
Press release from UK Insolvency Service:
“Mismanagement on a colossal scale” leads to
disqualification for wine investment company director
Ian Paul Vanderhook, the director of a wine
investment company – Bordeaux UK Ltd (‘Bordeaux UK) which took in more than
£23m from investors and folded with debts of more than £10m - has been banned
as a director for nine years for failing to keep proper company books and
records.
The disqualification, which started on 18
October 2013 following an investigation by the Insolvency Service, means that
Mr Vanderhook (34) cannot be a director, manage or control a company until
2022.
Mr Vanderhook gave undertaking to the
Secretary of State for Business, Innovation not to be a director or manage or
control a company until after the disqualification ends.
Bordeaux UK took over £23million from
investors between October 2008 and November 2011 of which, only £4.6m was used
to purchase wine. The company went into creditors’ liquidation on 30 November
2011 with debts of over £10m but with only £1.7 million of wine available. Mr
Nedim Ailyan was appointed as the liquidator.
Of the remaining £19million, Mr Vanderhook
benefitted from at least £2million whilst £13million cannot be explained or
accounted for as business- related, due to the lack of accounting records.
The investigation showed Mr Vanderhook had
failed to keep adequate books and records for three companies, Bordeaux UK
Limited, Van Der Hook Management Limited and Van Der Hook Consultancy Limited.
The former lift engineer set up Bordeaux UK
in 2002 to encourage members of the public to invest in fine wines,
predominantly from the Bordeaux region of France.
The wine recommended to investors by
brokers employed by Bordeaux UK was both “In-Bond” - bottled wine stored in
bonded warehouses in the UK - and “En-Primeur” - a method of purchasing wines
whilst the vintage is still in the barrel and thus not bottled or available to
be shipped for at least a year.
In addition, the liquidator was forced to
employ specialist agents to assist with unravelling the mess left by Mr
Vanderhooks’ failure to keep proper records and to analyse and reconcile claims
from investors in excess of £10m.
The liquidator, Nedim Ailyan, called the
situation a “mismanagement on a colossal scale” and further stated:
“In my experience the books and records
were completely inadequate and we were unable to ascertain the level of
creditors due to deficiencies within them. As an example we have instances of
wine that was allegedly allocated to individuals but there is no record of the
wine being transferred.
“In addition, individuals alleged that the
company disposed of wine on their behalf and this was to either be replaced
with other stocks of wine or alternatively the proceeds passed to them but this
never happened.
“There were no financial records available
to us that would have helped us to formulate a statement of affairs or to
reconcile individuals’ accounts and on average it was taking at least a day to
reconcile each individual’s account due to the volume of sales.”
Furthermore, due to the lack of any
accounting records, the Insolvency Service is unable to establish what taxes
were due to HM revenue & Customs.
It was also not possible to determine why
Van Der Hook Management Limited and Van Der Hook Consultancy Limited received
and paid out money from the Bordeaux account as Mr Vanderhook claimed neither
company was actively trading.
Given Van Der Hook Management Limited used
the trading style of Bordeaux UK, it is suspected their accounts were used for
funds due to Bordeaux UK Ltd.
Mr Vanderhook has not co-operated with the
Insolvency Service or the liquidator and has not explained the financial transactions
or why investors have lost in excess of £10 million.
David Brooks, a Chief Examiner for the
Insolvency Service stated:
“This case serves as an example of why
companies must keep accounting records and make them available to the
liquidator or administrator.
“Without the books and records, costs in
the liquidation have increased and what happened to a large amount of
investor's money cannot be explained.
“The fact investors have lost in excess of
£10million whilst only £1.7million of wine stock was available to them makes
this an especially serious case.
“Directors who do not maintain and preserve
their company’s books and records adequately will be investigated by the
Insolvency Service and in the appropriate cases, disqualified to protect the
public and the business community.”
Notes
to Editors
Ian Paul Vanderhook is of Kent and his date
of birth is 8 August 1979.
Bordeaux UK Limited was incorporated on 19
September 2002 and entered creditors voluntary liquidation on 30 November 2011.
A disqualification order has the effect
that without specific permission of a court, a person with a disqualification
cannot;
act as a director of a company;
take part, directly or indirectly, in the
promotion, formation or management of a company or limited liability
partnership;
act as an insolvency practitioner; or
be a receiver of a company’s property.
In addition, many other restrictions are
placed on disqualified directors by other regulations.
