Clifford Henry Ian Attewell-Hughes, a director of one of Brighton's largest security companies, has been disqualified from acting as a company director for eight years, following an investigation by the Company Investigations Team of The Insolvency Service.
The disqualification, which starts on 18 May 2012, also prevents Mr Attewell-Hughes from directly or indirectly becoming involved in the promotion, formation or management of a company for the duration of the term.
Mr Attewell-Hughes did not dispute that, while a director of Sassco (Brighton) Limited (SBL), he caused the company to withhold £484,964 in VAT and employee's PAYE/NIC to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) dating from 9 May 2009. In comparison, in the last year of trading alone £179,424.68 was paid directly to him and associated companies. SBL was wound up in 2010, with assets including book debts of £28,130. However Mr Attewell-Hughes diverted these assets to an associated company, to the detriment of SBL's creditors.
Commenting on Mr Attewell-Hughes's disqualification, Chief Examiner David Brooks said:
"This undertaking reflects both the length of time Mr Attewell-Hughes failed to make any effort to pay tax and the seriousness of disposing of assets properly owned by a liquidation estate.
"The Insolvency Service is determined to crack down on unscrupulous directors and ensure that they face serious sanctions."