‘Fake forest’ conman faces director ban after fraud
Businessman claimed £600,000 in grants but failed to plant single tree
AMIDLAND conman who was convicted of failing to plant a single tree after receiving a huge Government grant to create a forest on a brownfield site has been banned from being a company director.
Pritesh Ladwa, from Sutton Coldfield, was handed £98,000 from the English Woodland Grant Scheme, run by the Forestry Commission, to create a new wood for the public to enjoy at the former Orgreave colliery site in Waverley in South Yorkshire. Ladwa, who lived in Yardley, Birmingham at the time, had described himself as an “entrepreneur, traveller and bon vivant” on Facebook, where
he was pictured in glamorous locations around the world. But that lifestyle crumbled when the scam was discovered. Following his conviction in 2016 at Birmingham Crown Court, he was jailed for 27 months.
The trial heard that two officers from the Forestry Commission visited the land due to be planted and found nothing.
Prosecuting counsel Daniel Oscroft said: “They found no evidence that trees had ever been planted. The place had not even been cleared for the planting of trees.
“There was no forest where a forest should have been. This was the fraud. Ladwa had lied to the Forestry Commission by saying he had completed the work.”
It has now been revealed that the
33-year-old claimed almost £635,000 through his company, The Forest Project (TFP) Ltd. Ladwa claimed six grants from the Forestry Commission between March 2013 and April 2014 to create woodlands in South Yorkshire, County Durham, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire.
But The Forest Project did not own any of the sites when the applications were made and falsely claimed to the Forestry Commission that in every case all work had been completed. When the Forestry Commission asked for the money to be returned, The Forest Project, of which Ladwa was the sole director, went in liquidation in August 2018. It owed £536,870 with only one of the six grants repaid after a confiscation order in 2016 following the criminal case. Insolvency Service investigators found between January and July 2018 Ladwa had paid himself more than £67,000. He also transferred £30,000 to an associate following the sale of company assets.
He failed to deliver accounting records to the liquidator to explain the payments, which came after the Forestry Commission had sent repayment requests.
Ladwa has now been banned from acting as a company director for 11 years after he did not dispute that he provided inaccurate information to The Forestry Commission and failed to adhere to the terms of conditions of the six grants he received.
His ban, which prevents him, without court permission, from the ‘promotion, formation or management of a company’, started on February 12 this year.
Rob Clarke, chief investigator at the Insolvency Service, said: “Pritesh Ladwa knew when he applied for these grants to transform areas into forest land that the company did not meet the criteria to receive funding.
“This was compounded when he claimed that all the required work had been carried out.
“Although Pritesh Ladwa was convicted in the criminal courts for one of the grants, the disqualification regime has rightly been used to prevent him from being a director for a significant amount of time.
“The length of this ban should serve as a warning to others who attempt to use grant systems that all aspects of claims must be genuine.”
COULD trains return to Castle Bromwich for the first time in more than 50 years? West Midlands Mayor Andy Street is talking up hopes of once again having a railway station to serve the Solihull suburb.
Last week he outlined plans for “a third cross-city line” and reopening a route which was shut down decades ago.
“We are already making great progress in the Black Country, in South Birmingham,” he said, in reference to restoring former links.
“But the idea now – we’re just putting in our bid – is that we’ll also be able to open the old line that goes from the city centre, up through The Fort, to Castle Bromwich here and on into Sutton Coldfield and round to Walsall.
“And the other idea is we’re going to make it a cross-city line, linking up with the line out through Moseley and Kings Heath.”
Castle Bromwich Station originally opened in the 19th century – the golden age of railways – and operated for more than a century.
Shortly after the Second World War, there were even two services running on a Sunday.
However, the dramatic increase in car ownership paved the way for a huge reduction of the rail network during the 1960s – with many
stations and around a routes decommissioned.
Castle Bromwich was among the casualties of the 1960s Beeching cuts, named after Dr Richard Beeching who had drawn up the money-saving plan. Passenger services finally ceased in 1968.
There has been talk of reviving a Castle Bromwich service for many years, although Mr Street has reignited the debate with the promise of a new round of bids to central government’s Restoring your Railways fund.
Meriden’s MP, Saqib Bhatti, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) he was “delighted” by the proposal.
“This investment in our transport infrastructure will link my constituency to the rest of the West
third
of
Midlands and bring new jobs and opportunities to people in Castle Bromwich,” he said.
“Better rail links also mean that we will all spend less time commuting which will have a positive impact on our quality of life.”
Cllr Tim Hodgson, Solihull Green Party’s highways spokesman, described the long-standing absence of a station at the location as “a bit of a missing link”.
“If you catch a train (heading out of Birmingham) the first stop is at Water Orton,” he said.
Although the party has recently accused Mr Street’s wider transport plans – which also include a metro extension to the HS2 Interchange Station – of “lacking detail”.
It has also been pointed out that while a recent video promoting the proposals was shot at “the old heart” of Castle Bromwich, off Bradford Road, the station axed in the 60s was in fact some distance from the modern-day neighbourhood.
Commenting on the post, Karl Scharnhorst said: “Considering the change in urban geography since the original station closed, it is ironic that Castle Bromwich Station will now better serve Castle Vale more than Castle Bromwich itself.”
The name of the old site was settled on in the 1800s, when the area was just a tiny village and nearest population centre.