am i dealing with a serial fraudster?

[The Byre]

I found 20 that the two directors are directly involved with almost immediately. No doubt, if I had nothing better to do, I would find all the others!

 

[Paul Norman]

As others have pointed out, you are putting energy into the wrong thing

Your number 1 priority is to recover your money

1. Call, pointing out that you are a plasterer not a money lender. Payment is overdue, please pay now

2 14 day letter before action

3 MCOL.

No excuses, no delays

Your second priority is to avoid it happening again ideally with payment I. Advance, or at least a deposit. Failing that, a strict credit checking policy before you lend your customers money.

This is the correct answer.

I am wondering what reason there is for not starting this right now. Today.

It's business. Someone owes you money. Chase it to collect it. All the other actions are delaying because you - like many of us - prefer not to get into conflict. Just go for it. There is no legitimate reason for holding up paying someone unless you have stuffed up the job.

 

[garth_vader]

How sure are you that your research is correct?

Briscoe Estates is a dormant company with no assets and has apparently never traded.

I have also found one recruitment company (now dissolved) that never seemed to trade in a big way but no sign of these 60 other companies

Exactly what The Byre says:

I found 20 that the two directors are directly involved with almost immediately. No doubt, if I had nothing better to do, I would find all the others!

he's offering to pay me by the end of the week. if he doesn't do it by sunday I'm going to start MCOL. thanks for everyones help with this.

I might well be wrong about 60, it may be closer to 40, but from what I've found there are around 20 both directors are involved in historically as Byre pointed out.
There's then what looks to be the grandmother (approx 90 years old) involved in many others, the mother or sister involved in others, and what seems like the father? involved in more.

I also found what looks like one of their partners involved in one of the companies at some point, and they have a similar MO and back-log of shelve companies.


They all seem to be recruitment companies, ambiguous "services" companies, "leisure" companies, one said it was an "ethnic & cultural leisure association", none of which have any paper trail, website, or reference anywhere.
The latest is a company that acts as a wholesupplier for health and beauty products.
my concern now is that this company has started: will order a massive amount of health and beauty products on credit, the brother will strike off the company while the other brother goes and sells them...
but if this was the case they'd have been found out by now, surely.
Unless each of their suppliers are owed less than £500? and they're spreading it out so thin it doesn't even arouse suspicion?

And yes, the company is a dormant company since the 90's that has never traded and only has £1gbp in account, and has no assets listed: but they're collecting rent for 5 properties (that i'm aware of). so how does that work?



I agree with some people, on paper it looks like they've just been starting up businesses that never came off: a series of poorly conceived plans and idea that never came to fruition.
but not one of those EVER traded ANYTHING?
none of those businesses ever had a single customer?
or single expense?
that just seems odd to me.

I'm trying to work out what the benifit of incorporating a limited company in this way is.
let's say for example none of these businesses have ever traded anything at all.
It's not like owning a ltd company gets you into an exclusive club, or reduces your insurance premium or something, y'know what i mean?
so why do it just to dissolve the company or let it lie dormant?

If they were laundering money, i could understand, but why would you incorporate a company if you're not going to declare your income and pay your tax?
surely it would be less obvious what you're doing if you just didn't incorporate a company at all?

I just can't work out what's going on and it bugs me...

 

[Ian J]

I might well be wrong about 60, it may be closer to 40, but from what I've found there are around 20 both directors are involved in historically as Byre pointed out.
There's then what looks to be the grandmother (approx 90 years old) involved in many others, the mother or sister involved in others, and what seems like the father? involved in more.

Are they Sicilian?

 

[garth_vader]

Are they Sicilian?

no jamaican. why?
is that common in sicily?

 

[Ian J]

no jamaican. why?
is that common in sicily?

It was supposed to be a reference to the Mafia

 

[Mark Laurie]

Exactly what The Byre says:



he's offering to pay me by the end of the week. if he doesn't do it by sunday I'm going to start MCOL. thanks for everyones help with this.

I might well be wrong about 60, it may be closer to 40, but from what I've found there are around 20 both directors are involved in historically as Byre pointed out.
There's then what looks to be the grandmother (approx 90 years old) involved in many others, the mother or sister involved in others, and what seems like the father? involved in more.

I also found what looks like one of their partners involved in one of the companies at some point, and they have a similar MO and back-log of shelve companies.


They all seem to be recruitment companies, ambiguous "services" companies, "leisure" companies, one said it was an "ethnic & cultural leisure association", none of which have any paper trail, website, or reference anywhere.
The latest is a company that acts as a wholesupplier for health and beauty products.
my concern now is that this company has started: will order a massive amount of health and beauty products on credit, the brother will strike off the company while the other brother goes and sells them...
but if this was the case they'd have been found out by now, surely.
Unless each of their suppliers are owed less than £500? and they're spreading it out so thin it doesn't even arouse suspicion?

And yes, the company is a dormant company since the 90's that has never traded and only has £1gbp in account, and has no assets listed: but they're collecting rent for 5 properties (that i'm aware of). so how does that work?



I agree with some people, on paper it looks like they've just been starting up businesses that never came off: a series of poorly conceived plans and idea that never came to fruition.
but not one of those EVER traded ANYTHING?
none of those businesses ever had a single customer?
or single expense?
that just seems odd to me.

I'm trying to work out what the benifit of incorporating a limited company in this way is.
let's say for example none of these businesses have ever traded anything at all.
It's not like owning a ltd company gets you into an exclusive club, or reduces your insurance premium or something, y'know what i mean?
so why do it just to dissolve the company or let it lie dormant?

If they were laundering money, i could understand, but why would you incorporate a company if you're not going to declare your income and pay your tax?
surely it would be less obvious what you're doing if you just didn't incorporate a company at all?

I just can't work out what's going on and it bugs me...

It can be the case that they are sole traders/partnerships that have registered a Ltd company in their trading name to prevent anyone else using it. They can then just leave it dormant, nothing wrong with that. If they then no longer need the business name as they don't deal in that market anymore they can dissolve the company. For instance you are a sole trader "Garth Vader Kitchens" and manufacture and fit bespoke kitchens (as an example). Someone sees that you have a great rep and want to piggyback so they register Garth Vader Kitchens Ltd. They have done nothing wrong but you cannot then use that name. However, if you did it first you could leave it dormant and they can't use it. If you decide you want to build conservatories instead you can dissolve your Ltd company and then register Garth Vader Conservatories Ltd and leave it dormant.

Or of course they could just be crooks.

 

[garth_vader]

It was supposed to be a reference to the Mafia

i see what you did there...

i can't post memes until my accounts 30 days old, but trust me: you had a very funny meme coming your way if i could...

 

[Noah]

i see what you did there...

i can't post memes until my accounts 30 days old, but trust me: you had a very funny meme coming your way if i could...

Don't post memes even when you can; a meme is usually a simplistic, tired cliché that reflects herd mentality, a lack of original thinking, and inadequate language skills.

Look at me. I used to post memes, until I took an arrow to the brain.

 

[billybob99]

Don't post memes even when you can; a meme is usually a simplistic, tired cliché that reflects herd mentality, a lack of original thinking, and inadequate language skills.

Look at me. I used to post memes, until I took an arrow to the brain.

 

[Root 66 Woodshop]