Press release: UK’s ‘first ever’ successful prosecution for false company information

Kevin Brewer, a businessman, incorporated John Vincent Cable Services Ltd in 2013, making the former Business Secretary Vince Cable MP a director and shareholder without his knowledge. The company was dissolved and taken off the company register after Companies House took action.

Brewer, 65, then formed another company in 2016, Cleverly Clogs Ltd, making Baroness Neville-Rolfe – the Minister with responsibility for Companies House – James Cleverly MP and an imaginary Israeli national, Ibrahim Aman, all directors and shareholders without their knowledge. Companies House dissolved the company and took it off the company register.

Brewer, from Ullenhall in Warwickshire, was ordered to pay over £12,000 after he pleaded guilty to filing false information on the UK’s company register at a hearing in Redditch Magistrates’ Court last Thursday 15 March.

This is thought to be the first time a company director has been successfully prosecuted for falsifying company information under laws which came into force in 2009.

A Companies House spokesperson said:

Deliberately filing false information on the register is a serious offence and people who have been found to have knowingly done this can face prosecution.

Business Minister Andrew Griffiths said:

This prosecution – the first of its kind in the UK – shows the Government will come down hard on people who knowingly break the law and file false information on the company register.

Companies House works hard to protect and continually upgrade the company register, identifying potentially criminal activities and working closely with law enforcement bodies to help bring those perpetrators to justice.

The company register is operated by Companies House and contains information about company addresses, accounts, and those who own and run companies. There are nearly 4 million companies on the UK’s company register and the vast majority of these companies use the register lawfully.

Notes to editors:

• Brewer pleaded guilty to breaking section 1112 of the Companies Act 2006, which sets out the criminal offence of providing false information on the company register.
• Brewer was fined £1,602 and ordered to pay costs of £10,462.50 and a Victim Surcharge of £160.