A Midland businessman has been banned from being a director for five years after paying himself £500,000 and leaving creditors out of pocket.
Roger Dyson, director of recovery vehicles firm Roger Dyson (UK) was banned after making the payment despite the firm collapsing into liquidation.
The £500,000 payment was made to himself on December 1, 2008, two months before the company entered liquidation, it emerged after an investigation by the Insolvency Service.
He said the money, which was given ahead of other creditors, was for an unsecured loan he had made to the company in July 2008.
The disqualification means that Mr Dyson, 62, cannot act as a director, control or manage a company until 2018. The court heard that the move increased the company’s overdraft to nearly £1 million.
The firm ceased to trade in January 2009 and went into voluntary liquidation the month after with losses of more than £1.3 million.
Robert Clarke, head of company investigations in Birmingham, said: “Directors who put themselves ahead of other creditors when it’s clear their company is about to fail, show total disregard for suppliers and the business community generally.
“The disqualification order made in this case sends a clear message to other company directors that if they run a business in a way that is detrimental to either its customers or its creditors, they will be investigated by the Insolvency Service.”
