Press release: Building company director banned for 7 years

Following an investigation by the Insolvency Service, the Secretary of State for Business, Energy, & Industrial Strategy accepted a disqualification undertaking from Juris Vezenkovs for seven years, effective from 7 November 2017.

Mr Vezenkovs was a director of McDouglas Developments Limited who failed to ensure that the receipts were declared on the company’s VAT Returns which resulted in under declared VAT of £459,000.

McDouglas Developments Limited undertook building and construction work and entered liquidation on 26 October 2016, with liabilities to creditors of £1,584,512 of which £1,574,512 was owed to HM Revenue & Customs.

Susan MacLeod, Chief Investigator of Insolvent Investigations, Midlands & West at the Insolvency Service, said:

Company directors have a duty to ensure businesses meet their legal obligations, including paying taxes. Neglect of tax affairs is not a victimless action as it deprives the taxpayer of funds needed to operate public services.

The Insolvency Service will take action against directors who do not take their obligations seriously and abuse their position.

Notes to editors

Juris Vezenkovs date of birth is December 1980 and he is known to have resided in Manchester.

McDouglas Developments Limited (CRO No.09769443) was incorporated on 9 September 2015 and traded from Manchester as a provider of dry lining, plastering and roofing services.

Juris Vezenkovs was the sole registered director from 9 September 2015 until the company went into liquidation on 26 October 2016. The estimated deficiency as regards creditors and shareholders was £1,584,612.

On 17 October 2017 the Secretary of State accepted a Disqualification Undertaking from Juris Vezenkovs, effective from 7 November 2017, for a period of 7 years.

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
• be a receiver of a company’s property

Disqualification undertakings are the administrative equivalent of a disqualification order but do not involve court proceedings. Persons subject to a disqualification order are bound by a range of other restrictions.

The Insolvency Service, an executive agency sponsored by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), administers the insolvency regime, and aims to deliver and promote a range of investigation and enforcement activities both civil and criminal in nature, to support fair and open markets. We do this by effectively enforcing the statutory company and insolvency regimes, maintaining public confidence in those regimes and reducing the harm caused to victims of fraudulent activity and to the business community, including dealing with the disqualification of directors in corporate failures.

BEIS’ mission is to build a dynamic and competitive UK economy that works for all, in particular by creating the conditions for business success and promoting an open global economy. The Criminal Investigations and Prosecutions team contributes to this aim by taking action to deter fraud and to regulate the market. They investigate and prosecute a range of offences, primarily relating to personal or company insolvencies.

The agency also authorises and regulates the insolvency profession, assesses and pays statutory entitlement to redundancy payments when an employer cannot or will not pay employees, provides banking and investment services for bankruptcy and liquidation estate funds and advises ministers and other government departments on insolvency law and practice.

Further information about the work of the Insolvency Service, and how to complain about financial misconduct is available.

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