Couple lived the high life while £6m vanished from firm ALEX SCAPENS
A‘REPREHENSIBLE’ husband and wife team lived a life of luxury while £6m of customers’ money went missing - and it is ‘highly unlikely’ any will be repaid.
Christine and Adrian Whitehurst, 53 and 54, from Heaton Moor, were directors of debt management company First Step Finance and have been banned from being directors for 14 years and 10 years.
In the 18 months before the company folded with debts of £7.3m, Mrs Whitehurst posted details of lavish holidays in Cannes, Marbella and a South African safari on social media.
There was even a picture of her meeting pop mogul Simon Cowell and one of an ornate Christmas tree in a large conservatory.
But according to the government’s Insolvency Service the couple, of Alma Road, withdrew £5,943,939 from client accounts, in breach of financial regulations, to fund their lifestyle and give to family members.
Robert Clarke, from the Insolvency Service, said: “Customers who are forced to use debt management companies are particularly vulnerable individuals.
“The actions of Mr and Mrs Whitehurst in deliberately misrepresenting the basis on which funds were held and then taking these monies to fund their lavish lifestyle are reprehensible.”
First Step, based at Grand Central, in the town centre, was incorporated in 2007 and went into administration in May 2014 with the loss of around 80 jobs.
It had assets of £236,332 and liabilities of £7,354,030. Because the unregulated have no redress.
Mr Whitehurst, who is already serving a five-year ban in connection with another company, was a director from 2007 to 2009 Mrs Whitehurst succeeded him and quit in October 2013.
The company took payments from in-debt customers to build up a lump sum that would then be used to negotiate settlements with those who were owed.
Money taken from client accounts was covered by firm was customers selling their shares in both a speculative overseas property development and the company itself at prices that could not be explained.
In 2013 finance manager Darren Newton became the sole director and has been given a three-and-a-half year ban.
A spokesman for the insolvency service said that it was ‘highly unlikely’ any customers would get any money back.
He added the investigation into Mr and Mrs Whitehead is continuing and criminal proceedings have not been ruled out.