Rude awakening for bed manufacturer
Following a prosecution by the Department for Business under the Insolvency Act, the director of a bed company whose dealings cost creditors almost £200,000 has been sentenced to a 12 week suspended prison sentence and 150 hours of community service. He was also handed a three-year blanket ban from operating as a director.
Paul Edward Raine, of Windermere Court, Darlington pleaded guilty to the charge of acting as a director of a company known by a prohibited name.
In February 2007, Mr Raine's company Furntex Ltd entered voluntary liquidation, owing over £500,000 to creditors. Raine however tried to hide this under the mattress; illegally resurrecting the company under the name of Dreamsleeper Ltd. Raine's 'new' venture failed and was placed into liquidation in August 2008. Creditors lost an estimated £195,198.
In passing sentence, magistrates expressed the view that this was a serious and deliberate breach of Section 216 of the Insolvency Act.
