Market Drayton businessman banned from being a director over £14 million tax con

Adrian John Sumnall, 45, from Market Drayton, was a director in Ace Telecom Trading Limited (ATT), which collapsed in 2013 with debts of £32 million, and no known assets to the company's name.

It was wound up in July that year, having previously wrongly claimed £14 million in VAT from HM Revenue and Customs. It owed more than £18 million to HMRC.

Now Mr Sumnall has been banned from promoting, managing, or being a director of a limited company until September 2027.

His business partner Neil Arthur Pursell, 51, from Stoke, and James Elphinstone Reed, 45, of Tarporley in Cheshire, have also received bans of more than a decade after all three put forward disqualification undertakings, which negate the need for a court appearance. It means they will not be able to hold directorships of businesses, form or manage a company, or be a receiver of a company's property.

Records kept by Companies House reveal that Mr Sumnall holds 40 different directorships, many based out of a property at Winnington near Market Drayton.

The trio did not dispute claims by the country's Official Receiver that ATT took part in transactions connected to the fraudulent evasion of VAT, which they either knew or should have known about, and that ATT wrongfully claimed VAT from HMRC totalling almost £14 million.

Registered in Coventry and operating from Congleton in Cheshire, ATT traded as a wholesaler of mobile telephones and other electronic goods.

Mr Pursell and Mr Sumnall were also directors of Winnington Networks Limited (Winnington) which was placed into provisional liquidation after an application by HMRC in March 2014.

That was after the court was satisfied that Winnington was involved in fictitious trading connected to a complex VAT fraud.

Winnington was subsequently wound up with tax debts of approximately £6 million.

Ken Beasley, official receiver at the Insolvency Service's Public Interest Unit, said: "The directors of Ace Telecom Trading Limited were well aware of the risks of VAT fraud but nonetheless the company entered into transactions linked to the fraudulent evasion of VAT and wrongfully reclaimed VAT input tax of almost £14 million.

"VAT fraud represents a pernicious attack on the public finances and the periods of disqualification reflect the serious view taken of the conduct of the directors in this case. The Insolvency Service will not hesitate to use its enforcement powers to disqualify directors involved in schemes aimed at defrauding HMRC."

Mr Reed has been disqualified for 10 years and six months, starting from July this year, and Mr Pursell has been banned for 12 years, from December 1. The service has the power to refer cases to a prosecuting authority including the police if it feels a criminal act has been carried out.