Insolvency

A date has been set for a meeting of creditors of failed firm Tailormade, which advised on self-invested personal pension (SIPP) transfers into troubled overseas property company Harlequin and was a major distributor of Harlequin investments.

The son of troubled overseas property company Harlequin's chairman has been disqualified from being a company director for 13 years.

Experts are warning that the end could be nigh for ‘zombie' companies, which are kept alive by lenient creditors but are too weak to invest or expand.

The administrator of Connaught Asset Management is under investigation by an accountancy body for alleged misconduct in a separate case involving high street fashion chain Miss Sixty.

SCAMS

The number of pensioners and ‘wealthy individuals' being declared bankrupt has increased in the last quarter, according to analysis of figures from the Insolvency Service.

A land banking business shut down by the Insolvency Service last year convinced investors to hand over £10m in less than three years.

The High Court has placed two landbanking businesses into provisional liquidation on the grounds of public interest, following an investigation by the Insolvency Service.

A land banking operation which was continuing the work of a business previously shut by the Insolvency Service has itself been wound up.

The Insolvency Service has wound up two land banking firms in the latest clampdown on the fraudulent investment activity.