Disqualified director must pay back more than £100k or face jail

A banned director who illegally ran a business has been ordered to repay over £100,000 or serve 12 months in jail. Christopher Cook, disqualified for tax violations, continued operating Cupio Vehicle Management Ltd. Following an Insolvency Service probe, Oxford Crown Court imposed the repayment order, with co-defendant Richard Hawkins also fined.

A man who was operating as a company director despite being disqualified has been ordered to pay back £100,000 or face jail. Christopher Cook, of Church Lane in South Leigh, was disqualified as a director of vehicle delivery company, Park Hall South East Ltd, in 2015 for non-payment of tax.

However, he then ran another company, Cupio Vehicle Management Ltd, while banned. Following an Insolvency Service investigation, he was found to have taken more than £100,000 in wages and transfers to his personal account during this time, which he has now been ordered to repay or face a 12-month prison sentence. 

Alexander Grierson, Head of Asset Recovery at the Insolvency Service said: “This case serves as a warning to others that no matter how much time passes, justice will catch up with those who continue to run companies while they are banned. Christopher Cook clearly thought little of his disqualification and continued to operate as normal.”

Cook was the director of Park Hall South East Ltd until his disqualification in 2015. From June 2013 he was also the sole director of Cupio Vehicle Management Ltd, from which he resigned following his disqualification and claimed to have taken the role of company secretary. 

Cook’s co-defendant, 62-year-old Richard Hawkins of Fritillary Mews, Ducklington, supposedly replaced him as director in 2016. However, it was found that Cook had continued as director of the company, in breach of the ban.

In March 2024, after Cook pleaded guilty to being a director whilst disqualified, he was sentenced at Oxford Crown Court to an 18-month Community Order and 150 hours of unpaid work.

In December 2024, a confiscation hearing was held at Oxford Crown Court where Cook was ordered to repay £109,944 he took from Cupio Vehicle Management Ltd. Failure to repay the full amount will result in a 12-month prison term. 

Richard Hawkins pleaded guilty of Aiding and Abetting Cook to commit the offence of acting as a director and was handed a £1,000 fine and ordered to repay costs of £250.

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