Director banned for failing to keep proper accounting records

THE director of a company set up to market a fuel-saving device has been disqualified for failing to maintain and preserve proper records

Upul Eshine Kulasinghe ( 68), director of Pure Strategic Limited, a company set up to market a fuel saving device, has given an undertaking to the Secretary of State for Business Innovation and Skills, that he won’t act as a director of a company for a period of six years from 21 June 2016.

Kulasinghe was disqualified after an Insolvency Service investigation found he had failed to maintain and preserve adequate accounting records.

On 30 October 2013 Pure Strategic Limited, with debt of £59,165, was placed into compulsory liquidation following a winding up petition lodged by HM Revenue and Customs. Mr Kulasinghe was the sole director of Pure Strategic Limited at that time.

Following the Liquidator’s appointment the investigation found that for the period from at least 20 October 2011 to 30 October 2013, the company’s books were inadequate to:

• verify expenditure from the company bank account totaling £274,346 or verify whether receipts into the company bank account totaling £296,617 were a true representation of the sales achieved by the company
• verify whether the company owned or disposed of any assets, other than those realised by the Liquidator, and if so, what their value was
• establish the true level of liabilities owed to HM Revenue and Customs or verify the nature and purpose of personal withdrawals totaling £110,500
• verify the number and nature of any employees and the extent of any consequences on PAYE and NIC

Verification has been hampered further as a result of Mr Kulasinghe failing to lodge with the Liquidator’s a Statement of Affairs for Pure Strategic Limited or ensure that the company complied with its statutory obligation to file accounts with the Registrar at Companies House, from the date of incorporation.

Robert Clarke, Head of Company Investigation at the Insolvency Service said: “Keeping proper records is a pivotal duty for directors and there is no place in the business environment for those who neglect their responsibilities in this area and cover up the activities of the companies they manage. The lack of records in this case made it impossible to determine whether there was other, more serious misconduct at Pure Strategic and that is reflected in the period of the disqualification.”

“This ban should serve as a reminder to any directors tempted to do the same: the Insolvency Service will vigorously investigate you and seek to remove you from the marketplace.”