Legal News

A London restaurateur who owed £1.3 million to HMRC has been disqualified from acting as a company director for 12 years.

Marios Georgallides of Highgate in north London was disqualified after an investigation by the Insolvency Service found he had failed to pay Crown debts of £1.3m and had abused a company’s banking facilities.

Mr Georgallides had previously been disqualified as a director for six years in February 2010, but had retained ownership of the Knightsbridge-based Japanese restaurant, Nozomi, in July 2009 through various family trusts. The company went into liquidation on 8 June 2011.

He also remained a signatory to the bank account of a company called Eastzest Limited until March 2011, when the bank discovered his disqualification. During that period, Mr Georgallides signed more than 1,200 cheques, however.

At liquidation, the company owed nearly £1.3m to HMRC in arrears of VAT, PAYE and National Insurance Contributions, having only paid £111,500 of the debt due during trading.

During its trading period, the company issued cheques and direct debit payments which were not met on a total of 1,065 occasions and which had a total value of £1,018,068 – incurring £29,700 in bank charges.

The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills also brought proceedings against Mr Georgallides’ co-director Marcello Santese, and accepted an undertaking for five years from him on 16 November 2015, the day before the trial.

The disqualification means that neither Mr Georgallides nor Mr Santese shall be a director of a company, whether directly or indirectly – or be involved in the management of a company in any way for the duration of their disqualification, unless they have permission from the Court.

Chief Investigator with the Insolvency Service, Mark Bruce, said:

“Mr Georgallides effectively ignored his first disqualification and carried on as the main director of this prestigious restaurant.

“He must have realised during the trial that the weight of evidence was heavily against him and threw in the towel.

“I was involved in the investigation of his previous companies – and Mr Georgallides has a repeated history of non-payment of his various companies’ Crown debts and abuse of the banking facilities.

“He displays exactly the sort of behaviour that gives some directors a bad name – and a 12-year ban reflects how serious the Insolvency Service views his attitude to business.

“Mr Georgallides’ co-director, Mr Santese, bears some responsibility for the failure – but was clearly the second fiddle and his five-year disqualification is adequate recompense for the trading public.

Mr Georgallides’ 12-year disqualification began on 9 December 2015.

Duncan Lewis Business Crime Solicitors

Duncan Lewis business crime solicitors can advise at any stage of a charge or investigation involving business crime, including charges relating to financial fraud, misrepresentation, false accounting, embezzlement, boiler room scams, investment fraud, Ponzis, tax and VAT evasion and white collar crime.

There are Duncan Lewis offices nationwide and a criminal defence solicitor can attend interviews with prosecuting authorities such as the Insolvency Service, FCA, SFO, HMRC, BIS, and City of London Police.

For expert legal advice on business crime, call Duncan Lewis business crime solicitors on 0333 772 0409.

For 24/7 help at a police station, call the Duncan Lewis 24-Hour Emergency Helpline on 0333 772 0607.