THE director of a Co Down tiles and building materials retail business has been handed a seven-year boardroom ban for his unfit conduct in allowing it to go under - the second firm he'd seen go insolvent on his watch.
George Madden (46) from Comber Road in Killinchy was a director of Galas Ltd, which operated from an outlet at Glenford Road in Newtownards.
It went into liquidation in November 2014 with total debts of £176,527.
The Department for the Economy, which brought the case against Madden, accepted his disqualification undertaking based on a number of areas of unfit conduct which was not disputed.
And among them was he had failed to learn from a previous insolvent company of which he was a director and which entered liquidation in December 2012 owing, £431,816, more than three quarters of which (a sum of £347,443) was due to Crown creditors.
This time Madden admitted permitting Galas to discriminate against the Crown by failing to pay more than £92,300 in various taxes over different years(made up of £10,765 in income tax, £13,684 in national insurance and £67,927 in VAT).
He also failed to fully co-operate with the liquidator as office holder in that he failed to return a director’s questionnaire despite several requests; failed to deliver up adequate books and records; failed to reply to the liquidator’s requests for information or to provide the liquidator with his updated contact details.
Madden also admitted misusing the company bank account in that 69 payments totalling £67,975 were dishonoured between February and October 2014.
