Victim of fraud, help needed

[harman12345]

Hi, looking for a bit of advice by anyone who has been in this situation or knows anything about the legalities of it.

 

I recently opened a new business and rented a commercial property as a sub tenant. The main tenant (running a completely seperate business, but from inside the same premises) was in contact with the landlord and told me that the rent was 12000 per year, but the landlord had agreed to reduce to 10000 per year if we paid upfront (5000 each), which i agreed to do. I paid the 5000 into his account and he was to transfer it to the landlord. he also told me the bond for the building was 3000 (1500 each) and the rates i owed were 1000. Also I paid him £650 to pay a builder for repairs to the property, which the builder never received or quoted for. As the main tenant was a freind of 5 years i felt i could trust him, which is why i passed the money over.

 

A couple of months into the business i discovered that there had been no rent paid, the bond was only £1000 between us and that the builder had not been paid.

 

It turns out he had taken £8250 from me dishoestly. The landlord kicked him off the lease and made me the tenant, keeping the 1000 bond which i will recevie back at the end of the teancy. The landlord also told me that she would bill the main tenant soley for the rent and i would pay him, deductin a further 1000 from the amount owed to me. I also received a cash payment of 1000 from the lead tenant to start repaying the debt. to date i am still owed £5250.00 and have no plan in place to get it as the lead tenant claims he doesnt have the money, even though he is still working as an aco****ant making good money.

 

I have contacted a debt collection agency called FINAL DEMAND, whoare based in liverpool to chase the debt for me. They charge £699+vat as a one off fee to join them and then any money owed to me has a 15% fee added to it which the person owing pays.

 

first question, has anyone had any dealings with this company in the past, be it someone who owes money or is owed? if you have how did you find they acted? was it a quick process?

 

secondly, what other methods do i have get this money out of him? as a new start business i need this money to continue and cant afford to pay high solicitors fees just for him to plead poverty in court and i receive £5 a month for the next 50 years!!

 

Thanks in advance for any advice given.

 

H

[DonkeyB]

Just Google Final Demand and don’t be so daft again with your money. If you use the services of Final Demand it will be proof that you a serially not cut out for business.

[harman12345]

ive had a look through google and seen mixed reviews, more bad than good thoguh. In my defence, the man who took the money was a freind of 5 years who is a self emplyed accountant. all bills i paid i received invoices for and i have susequently found out i am not the only one he owes money to

[DonkeyB]

You would be better off employing a solicitor than a DCA.

[ScarletPimpernel]

Final demand have featured on CAG several times. From the various cases it appears that they are not particularly successful, and they seem to have some issues with compliance and professional behaviour. One of their favourite ploys is to issue a statutory demand as a debt collection tool.

 

There is no reason why you should not deal with the matter yourself. If you are serious about recovering the money, you could take him to small claims court - you can do this yourself. If you win and he fails to pay, there are a range of enforcement options open to you. We can help you with this process. As you have noted, if you get judgment and he pleads (and can demonstrate) poverty, the court may well allow him to pay a small amount monthly. You could, though, get a charging order against his home, for example, as security. You might want to consider issuing a statutory demand, but you should only do this if you are prepared to follow through with a bankruptcy petition.

 

If your debtor is an accountant, then he will be a member of a professional body and must adhere to their professional standards. These usually require the utmost honesty in all business dealings. For example, ACCA's standards make a member liable to disciplinary action for misconduct in the course of profesional duties or otherwise; becoming insolvent (see where the SD may be useful?), or failing to pay a judgment debt within two months. If found guilty an accountant can be suspended from practice, fined or struck off; I doubt many would want to risk it.

 

Do you know which body this guy is a member of?

[harman12345]

Thanks for the advice SP, I dont know which body he is with but his company is called xxxxxxxxxx. I have searched for them on comanies house and cant find them, what other methods are there for tracing a company?

 

Thanks

[harman12345]

scratch that last post, i have just come accross his company which is called xxxxxxxxxxxxxx. on companies house webcheck it is a dissolved company. I know the name and the address of the fraudster, is there a way of searching this to see what company he is involved with?

[Revenant]

Hi harman

 

A simple Google search of his name might throw up some info

 

R

[DonkeyB]

Try here.

 

http://company-director-check.co.uk/index.php

 

Perhaps better if you actually keep the company names off here!

 

Can you tell us how you passed the money over? By company cheque? Was it receipted?

[DonkeyB]

Did you pay the money to the dissolved company? If so, you have a problem.

[harman12345]

youre going to love this Donkey B, cash paid into his bank over counter, i do have full invoices for payments though. The company web check and directors checks are only showing his previous company which is now dissolved

[DonkeyB]

So what was he trading as when you paid him? A sole trader? Or were you led to believe it was a limited company? Don’t post actual company names though, just give us an indication.

 

So you paid cash into his personal account?

 

Starting to think you’ve been mugged...

[harman12345]

oh i've been properly mugged, his room mate also discovered about £700 of stolen items etc, several of us have been conned by him. I paid into his account over the counter, this is back in october so i cant remeber the name on the account. I was led to beleive he has a ltd company

[Conniff]

Harman if you are sure you have this mans name and address correctly, then issue a small claim against him as advised above.

 

There are quite a few methods of collection without using a debt collection company who have it made both ways, they charge you and they add on to the amount collected from the debtor as well.

 

If you get a ccj then you can use bailiffs or if you can find an employer then an attachment of earnings. Charge against property or bankruptcy are all available to you. Don't let the word 'friend' sway you in any way, he obviously wasn't.

 

You can do a court claim on line - https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/web/mcol/welcome