Register with us for free to get unlimited news, dedicated newsletters, and access to 5 exclusive Premium articles designed to help you stay in the know.
Join the UK's leading credit and lending community in less than 60 seconds.
The Insolvency Service has disqualified a company director for 14 years for dishonest attempts to obtain credit made through a limited company.
Group Editor
Bradley Trevor Silver, also known as Bradley Silva, was the sole director of 24/7 London, a sham company wound up in the public interest by the Insolvency Service in September 2016.
His company contacted various editing and production with forged documents claiming it had worked on contracts on TV shows including Big Brother, Britain’s Got Talent, X-Factor, and The Only Way is Essex.
He also approached a number of banks and credit institutions seeking credit on the back of fictional accounts using forged documents and invoices.
Silver filed fictitious accounts on behalf of 24/7 London, claiming turnover of £4.7bn and assets of £2.4bn, stated to have been audited by Deloitte. Insolvency Service investigators found that Deloitte had not in fact audited the accounts.
In the days prior to the disqualification hearing, the Insolvency Service’s lawyers were contacted by Adam Solomans, who claimed to be a friend of Silver’s, informing them that Silver had committed suicide.
The name and signature of Solomans featured on a cheque paid into 24/7 London’s bank account which had bounced. He also appeared to have shared a mobile telephone number with Silver.
Registrar Derrett said that she did not accept that Silver had died, and that, in all probability Silver and Solomans were the same person.
Cheryl Lambert, chief investigator at the Insolvency Service, said: “This is one of the more bizarre cases of dishonesty and misuse of limited liability I have ever come across.
“That Mr Silver appears to have tried to fake his own death through suicide in order to avoid disqualification is disgraceful. Directors should be aware that the Insolvency Service will not shy away from confronting dishonesty and removing these people from the marketplace.”
Silver’s period of disqualification starts on November 2.
Get the latest industry news