Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Trouble in store for ex BHS boss
Dominic Chappell hauled to court
THE disgraced businessman who bought BHS for £1 is to be prosecuted by the pensions watchdog.
Dominic Chappell is accused of failing to provide documents about his purchase of the firm from Sir Philip Green in 2015. Chappell could face unlimited fines if found guilty.
The Pensions Regulator claims that serial bankrupt Chappell ignored three demands for information. BHS’S collapse in April last year led to 11,000 job losses and left a £571million shortfall in the firm’s pension scheme.
The watchdog’s probe into Green ended in February, with the billionaire agreeing to pay £363million towards the pensions deficit.
Labour MP Frank Field said: “If the regulator is frightened of landing the whale, I suppose going after the sprat is the next best thing. Why was Sir Philip allowed to get away with an inadequate settlement, yet Dominic Chappell is going to be sued?”
Chappell is due to appear before Brighton magistrates court on September 20.
The watchdog said: “The Pensions Regulator is to prosecute Dominic Chappell for failing to provide information and documents it requested during its investigation into the sale of BHS.”
Lib Dem’s Alistair Carmichael said: “No prosecution will give back the jobs of 11,000 people.” The regulator is still investigating Chappell, whose firm, Retail Acquisitions, took £8.4million from BHS, with £6million still owed when the retailer went bust.
The Mirror revealed BHS was about to collapse, before it went under last year. We have also covered calls for Green, dubbed Philip Greed, to be stripped of his knighthood, including an appeal by MPS in June last year.