The High Court has granted judgment of €12.4 million against two directors of a Dublin logistics firm who allegedly misused the company’s funds, underdeclared its income to Revenue and unlawfully availed of support schemes during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The judgment was made, on a joint and severable basis, against Stewart Alexander and Bill Henry, who are directors of Finglas-registered Boxer Logistics Ltd, which traded as B Logistics before it was placed into liquidation last year.
The judgment was sought against the two directors by insolvency practitioners Tom Murray and Tom Musiol, who were appointed in March 2022 as liquidators of the firm.
B Logistics provided delivery services for commercial companies including Ikea and Buy it Direct.
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On Monday, Ms Justice Miriam O’Regan agreed the two should be made personally liable for the company’s debts after being informed that they had deliberately and continually underdeclared the firm’s true income, had underpaid its taxes, including corporation tax, Pay Related Social Insurance (PRSI) and Value Added Tax (VAT).
The court heard the firm owes Revenue more than €6 million.
The court was also told €250,000 of company money was paid by bank draft to Paula Loredana Hutu, a former employee of the firm and Mr Alexander’s lover, two weeks before the business went into liquidation.
The company misrepresented its financial position to Revenue in order to benefit from the Temporary Covid-19 Wages Subsidy and the Employee Wage Subsidy Schemes. It received some €1.9 million, which the company had no entitlement to.
Due to the directors’ manipulation of the company’s finances, the liquidators say Mr Alexander and Mr Henry owe the company itself a sum more than €6 million.
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The liquidators sought payment from the directors of that sum but received no payment.
Seeking various orders against the two directors, Arthur Cunningham BL, instructed by Barry Cahir of Beauchamps solicitors, for the liquidators, said his clients sought information about payments to and from the company by the directors.
Counsel said his clients did not receive any proper replies to their questions. “Very large” amounts of money were transferred from the company’s main trading account to personal accounts controlled by one of the directors, for which no proper explanation was given.
These include payments of €1 million made to accounts in Mr Alexander’s name and transfers of €285,000 made with a reference to “Old Trafford”, which is the residential address provided to the CRO by the respondents.
Further smaller transfers of between €8,000 to €7,000 were made from the company’s account to the directors, Ms Hutu and a Paddy Power account, the court heard.
Many other payments into and out of the company’s account were made and received from unknown parties and were not properly explained.
The liquidators asked the court for orders under the 2014 Companies Act seeking to have the directors made personally liable for the firm’s debts in the sum of €12.4 million.
There were no objections to the application. Neither Mr Alexander nor Mr Henry, both with an address at “Old Trafford”, Ballymadun, Ashbourne, Co Dublin, were present or represented in court.
Counsel told the court the two directors are understood to have relocated to the UK and may have started up a new business.
Making the orders against Mr Henry and Mr Alexander, the judge said she was satisfied that despite their non-attendance in court they had been made aware of the liquidators’ applications and had been served with court documents.
Counsel added that his clients will later formally ask the court to make orders including one requiring Ms Hutu to return the money which the liquidators say was wrongly paid to her by the company.
Ms Hutu is believed to be back in her native Romania, counsel added.
