The boss of a payroll business has been banned from operating as a company director for 11 years for orchestrating what the government said was a multi-million pound tax avoidance scheme.
According to the Insolvency Service, Scott Ian Rooney, who is aged 40, and from Leicester, had also failed to justify £37 million of expenditure in a period of just 11 months.
The service said Rooney was appointed sole director of Magnetic Push Limited in February 2017, which traded for just 11 months before it went into liquidation and was voluntarily wound up.
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The business – which the Insolvency Service said traded from a serviced office in Liverpool, and was previously known as The Knowledgeshares and My PSU Subcontractors – provided payroll services.
Rooney came to the attention of the Insolvency Service when his liquidator reported that he had refused to co-operate and failed to produce the company’s books and records.
The service said it started to investigate as a result of Rooney’s lack of co-operation as well as information provided by the tax authorities which, it said, suggested the company was part of a wider tax avoidance scheme.
Rooney, it said, had declared a VAT liability of just £609 – but the tax authorities claimed more than £4 million from Magnetic Push in the liquidation.
It said the company also failed to declare PAYE and National Insurance contributions.
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The Insolvency Service said: “The absence of books and records meant investigators could not establish genuine company expenses from almost £37 million that had left the company account between February and December 2017 nor the reasons behind the company’s failure.”
The service said Rooney was disqualified as a company director for 11 years on March 1, at the High Court in front of Judge Jones – and cannot now be involved, without the permission of the court, in the promotion, formation or management of a company.
Martyn Pettitt, deputy head of insolvent investigations at the Insolvency Service, said: “Scott Rooney’s significant ban shows how important it is for company directors to keep adequate books and records, and the measures that can be taken if they do not take this responsibility seriously.
“Directors like Scott Rooney cannot avoid scrutiny or sanctions when operating within a tax avoidance scheme by placing their company into insolvency and failing to co-operate and we will not hesitate to seek a ban where it is appropriate to do so.”