- Several board members are shown to have resigned in official documents
- Vertu Motors says this is the work of a ‘malicious actor’ as it seeks court order
Vertu Motors has seen its Companies House filings falsely amended to show that a number of directors had left the company and new fictitious board members were appointed.
The official Companies House page of Britain’s third largest car dealership currently shows that several directors have resigned and two new directors, including a “Mr. Ice Crystal Augustus”, have been appointed in their place.
The group, which is still trying to correct the record, is seeking a court order to prevent further changes and wants an explanation from Companies House as to how this was allowed to happen.
Fraudulent amendments another embarrassment for Companies House
Vertu Motors was forced to make a statement to investors on Wednesday explaining that the records had been “falsely altered by a malicious actor.”
The group said: “The company confirms that none of the above changes have occurred legally and that therefore the company’s board of directors remains unchanged and is as listed on Vertu’s investor relations website and as mentioned in previous announcements.”
Among the directors who are said to have had their appointments terminated using the falsified form are chief financial officer Karen Anderson and chief operating officer David Crane.
Vertu Motors added: “The company is in the process of contacting Companies House to correct the public record, is seeking a court order to prevent the malicious actor from making any further changes to its public records and is working with Companies House to establish how the malicious actor was able to access Companies House systems to make these changes.
Official documents were falsely altered to show that the CFO and COO left the company.
The fraudulent amendments are another embarrassment for Companies House after recent press reports highlighted the number of Britons discovering their home addresses have been registered as addresses of unknown companies.
Business Minister Kevin Hollinrake told the Mail on Sunday this week that the Government would crack down on the problem.
“This country has been targeted by criminals abusing our system to register fraudulent businesses for far too long,” Mr Hollinrake said.
A Companies House spokesperson said: “We are aware of this case and are working with the company to establish the facts.”
‘Deliberately entering false information into the register is a serious offense and people who have knowingly done so may face prosecution. A person found guilty could face a fine or up to two years in prison (or both).’
‘Mr Ice Crystal Augustus’ was named director of Vertu
