Forensic accountant/detective

masterwilde

Hi all, i wonder if you can help me out a little. i basically was employed for a company (about 70 of us) director never paid anyone, we were all stupid i know.

In essence i will win my employment tribunal easily as he has not answered any letters and such, and the basic award will pay out about 4k, however i am owed 14k.

I know now this company was a scam on the public, as i know he has done it before, the company was ltd, but he cannot hide behind that.

There is no know address for him and i wondered if i hired a forensic accountant if they could find all financial information on him and how much that would cost me roughly?

Also if its found out that he has money can i force him to me all monies owed legally?

Sorry for the lengthy post but really need some help here, am going mad

whitewing

You should be able to get an initial meeting/quote for free, surely?

Is it worth speaking to the police to see if they can do any investigations as it is happening on a large scale?

masterwilde

The police were involved at the time, but they were useless, and have failed in the duty to protect and serve. this i know as i have found evidence of the this scam by the same person under a different company name and yet the police have done nothing..i was second in command of this company and i was never even interviewed by the police!

I am off to see them this morning to demand some information, but i doubt i will get anywhere, its just what i need to do

whitewing

Could all the employees club together and take joint legal action? That would reduce costs for individuals maybe.

Also, is there anything your MP can help you with? This may be more tricky if employees live outside the area because I think you have to go to the MP associated with your home address.

pickpocketlocket

masterwilde wrote: »

I am off to see them this morning to demand some information, but i doubt i will get anywhere, its just what i need to do

There are ways to get assistance from the police, and demanding anything will not work. Explain that you are dissatisfied, but keep remain calm and polite whilst doing so.

whitewing wrote: »

Could all the employees club together and take joint legal action? That would reduce costs for individuals maybe.

Also, is there anything your MP can help you with? This may be more tricky if employees live outside the area because I think you have to go to the MP associated with your home address.

There is no point in taking legal action unless this person can be traced, and has the assets to pay any judgments made against them. There are ways to establish the standing of this person, but at this point the OP would be best to take advice as to the viability of the action, not action.

This is not within an MP's remit.

Notmyrealname

masterwilde wrote: »

There is no know address for him and i wondered if i hired a forensic accountant if they could find all financial information on him and how much that would cost me roughly?

Forensic accounting doesn't do that unless it is done by the Police who have the power to request information. Forensic accounting in the none-law enforcement sector is basically meticulous accounting of PROVIDED information usually done for someone who has been audited by HMRC or to challenge a large tax bill.

I know now this company was a scam on the public, as i know he has done it before, the company was ltd, but he cannot hide behind that.

Actually he can.

Also if its found out that he has money can i force him to me all monies owed legally?

It is a hiding to hell because your claim would be against the Ltd Company, not the individual. Only if criminal charges were brought could you stand some chance however people like them are clever enough to make sure they own nothing so nothing can be reclaimed.

colino

I know you are feeling, rightly, angry, but the only recourse you have is getting your group to constantly badger the Police and the CPS (or Procurators Fiscal) to probe this individual for fraud.
The whole point of a limited liability company is to, well, limit your liability. He may well have set the company up with a £2 investment and that is the extent of the liability. You were not employed by him, the separate, legal entity, the company, employed you.
Do not waste a penny engaging a forensic accountant, they are very expensive (one I was involved in a couple of years ago charged £5k +expenses per day and while good, he was a one man band). The big accountancy firms will not entertain you because they know you cannot afford their services and if a forensic accountant is cheap, he will be useless.
Bear in mind too that you said this guy has done it before. You would be horrified as to how easy it is to set up and operate a scam company and how little a trail it can leave.

heretolearn_2

Forensic accountants are not like private detectives, to go poking around for you for someone's personal information by hacking into computer/bank/Companies House/HMRC records (which seems to be what you want).

They will only look at authorised information - basically that is the client's own records, or if used by police/HMRC etc as part of an official investigation.

There's no way on earth one is going to illegally start hacking for you. Forensic accountants earn a lot legitimately, why would they risk destroying their own career/business and going to jail for you?

If you want to hire a private detective to trace him, you can, but as others have said unfortunately the director is not the same entity as the business and he won't have any personal liability.

I am sorry you are in this awful situation.

dancingfairy

I believe you can in certain circumtances sue the person behind the limited company but it is very rare (presumably because it is very, very difficult and expensive). I belive it is something to do with 'lifting the veil' of incorporation?
I'm wondering whether trading standards would want to get involved especially if you can prove it's essentially large scall fraud (although while that might result in a conviction for the person in charge (if you were very,very lucky) I'm not sure it woudl help you get your money back.
I'm wondering also if companies house can help you? With a ltd company you should be able to see the company accounts and find that of the previous company which should hopefully provide names and addresses of the directors. Check what states the companies are in (ie whether they have filed accounts, whether they have been officially wound up etc etc).
You could also possibly get a search done to see if the director is barred and has previous criminal conviction (not too sure how you do it but it's possible). Companies house may be able to help you -they may be able to tell you how/where to get hold of this info. and who enforces such things.
Best of Luck
df
Edit: do you know/have very strong reason to believe the director has any assets at all as otherwise I'm not sure there's much point in pursuing him (unfair as this may be).