Chappell denies withholding information
THE former owner of BHS repeatedly failed to provide information about the collapsed firm’s pension schemes to investigators, a court heard yesterday.
Dominic Chappell is accused of failing to respond to the Pensions Regulator’s requests three times over BHS’s two pension schemes, which had 19,000 members.
The former bankrupt, 51, was the director and majority shareholder of Retail Acquisitions, who bought BHS for £1 from Sir Philip Green in 2015.
The chain went bust in April 2016, leaving a £571million pension deficit. Green agreed to pay £363million into it.
The Pensions Regulator launched an investigation into the sale after the collapse, Brighton Magistrates’ Court heard.
Alex Stein, prosecuting, said Chappell was requested to provide information under the Pensions Act in April and May 2016 and a third time in February 2017.
He added: “Despite numerous reminders to the defendant and his advisers, nothing has been received in relation to the ( first) two notices.”
The third notice relates to a request by the regulator for information about an alleged leak of information from a confidential “warning notice” issued in November 2016.
Chappell’s lawyer Michael Levy told the hearing that the day the notice was sent out, he received a call from someone who said they were from a newspaper.
He added: “The person who is speaking on the telephone starts quoting paragraphs and pages from the notice.
“He (Chappell) phones the office of the Pensions Regulator that day and speaks to someone he doesn’t know.
“He reports that. Later on, some weeks later, he reports that in a letter. He has reported it.”
Mr Stein said there was no record of Chappell’s call, adding: “That account has never been given to the regulator before.”
Chappell, of Blandford Forum in Dorset, denies three charges of neglecting or refusing to provide information and documents, in breach of the Pensions Act 2004. The case continues.