Director banned after Brazilian restaurant chain submitted false VAT returns
Volnei Augusto Borgert has been disqualified from acting as a director for 7 years for causing Camboriu Restaurants Limited to file false VAT returns and for taking £47,280 from the company in the last month of trading, after being told not to.
The disqualification follows an investigation by the Insolvency Service.
The Secretary of State accepted an undertaking from Mr Borgert on 1 February 2016, not to act as a director of a limited company for 7 years from 22 February 2016.
The investigation found that Mr Borgert caused Camboriu to file three inaccurate VAT returns in 2012 and 2013, resulting in £162,684 not being declared as due. Furthermore, after he had taken advice from an insolvency practitioner that the company wasn’t solvent, he withdrew £47,280 from the company.
Camboriu Restaurants Limited was incorporated on 5 November 2010 and started trading in 2011 as a chain of Brazilian themed restaurants, under the trading style Tropeiro, latterly in Aberdeen, Glasgow, Sheffield, Nottingham and Chester. Camboriu entered Administration on 31 January 2014 with estimated assets of £116,783 and liabilities totalling £1,354,780.
The Insolvency Service investigation also found that:
- When already in arrears with HMRC, Mr Borgert falsified three VAT returns and paid the lesser amount shown on those returns to be due, thereby concealing from HMRC the full extent of the VAT debt. The company’s own records showed that £162,684 was knowingly under-declared
- From 6 December 2013, having been advised by HMRC (on 27 November 2013) that a winding up petition would be issued, and by an Insolvency Practitioner (on 3 December 2013) that the company should be placed into Administration and no creditor should get preferential treatment, he withdrew £47,280 for his own benefit
The company’s share capital was £1. The Administrators sold the underlying business to an unconnected party. Mr Borgert was the only director of Camboriu throughout.
Commenting on the disqualification, Cheryl Lambert, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said:
This is a significant ban reflecting the seriousness with which the Insolvency Service considers the conduct of the director.
In overseeing the submission of false data to HMRC, which hid the true position, Mr Borgert allowed the company to continue trading using that undeclared tax as a reservoir of working capital. Despite being made aware of the true position, he wilfully ignored instructions from professionals and extracted money to reduce his personal exposure to loss.
Directors of companies experiencing financial difficulties have a duty to act in the best interests of creditors, not to mitigate their own position or simply extract what money remains.
Mr. Bogert’s conduct of Camboriu’s affairs fell short of the standards of competence and integrity expected; to protect the integrity of the Market, the Insolvency Service will use its powers to protect the business world when directors act in this way.
Notes to editors
Camboriu Restaurants Ltd (CRO 07431082) was incorporated on 5 November 2010. Its registered office was 1 Cuppin Street, Chester, CH1 2BN. It traded 5 Brazilian restaurants in Aberdeen, Glasgow, Chester, Nottingham and Sheffield.
Camboriu Restaurants Ltd was placed into Administration on 31 January 2014. The Administrators continued trading the business and subsequently sold it to an unconnected party.
Volnei Augusto Borgert lives in Chester and his date of birth is 19 January 1965.
A disqualification order or undertaking has the effect that without specific permission of a court, a person with a disqualification cannot:
- act as a director of a company
- take part, directly or indirectly, in the promotion, formation or management of a company or limited liability partnership
- be a receiver of a company’s property
In addition that person cannot act as an insolvency practitioner and there are many other restrictions are placed on disqualified directors by other regulations.
Further information on director disqualifications and restrictions can be found here.
The Insolvency Service administers the insolvency regime, investigating all compulsory liquidations and individual insolvencies (bankruptcies) through the Official Receiver to establish why they became insolvent. It may also use powers under the Companies Act 1985 to conduct confidential fact-finding investigations into the activities of live limited companies in the UK. In addition, the agency authorises and regulates the insolvency profession, deals with disqualification of directors in corporate failures, assesses and pays statutory entitlement to redundancy payments when an employer cannot or will not pay employees, provides banking and investment services for bankruptcy and liquidation estate funds and advises ministers and other government departments on insolvency law and practice.
Further information about the work of the Insolvency Service, and how to complain about financial misconduct, is available.
All public enquiries concerning the affairs of the company should be made to: Cheryl Lambert, Head of Outsourced Investigations, Investigations and Enforcement Services, The Insolvency Service, 3rd Floor, Abbey Orchard Street, London SW1P 2HT. Tel: 0207 596 6117. Email: Cheryl.Lambert@insolvency.gsi.gov.uk
Contact Press Office
Media enquiries for this press release – 020 7674 6910 or 020 7596 6187
Press Office
16th Floor, 1 Westfield Ave
London
E20 1HZ
Email press.office@insolvency.gov.uk
Media Manager 0303 003 1743
This service is for journalists only. For any other queries, please contact the Insolvency Enquiry Line.
For all media enquiries outside normal working hours, please contact the Department for Business and Trade Press Office on 020 7215 1000.
You can also follow the Insolvency Service on: