Jeweller’s ban extended after breaching court orders

A jeweller from North West London has received an 11-year ban after he breached a court order that allowed him to act as a director.

Daniel Simon Brodie will begin his 11-year directorship disqualification on 24 August.

After this date, he will be banned from acting as a director, or directly or indirectly becoming involved in the promotion, formation or management of a company without permission from the court.

Jewelmark UK Limited was incorporated in June 2010 and traded as a watches and jewellery wholesaler. Brodie was first appointed a director of the company in June 2010 and resigned in July 2013, before being reappointed in September 2014.

The wholesaler entered into creditors voluntary liquidation in June 2017, however, which brought Jewelmark UK “to the attention” of the Insolvency Service.

Investigators found that Brodie had failed to ensure Jewelmark UK complied with its statutory tax obligations, and also breached a 2012 court order which granted him permission to act as a company director in lieu of a previous disqualification.

In January 2012, Brodie was banned for four years after he failed to ensure a separate company he was a director of, Avya Gems Limited, complied with its statutory tax and filing obligations.

According to the Insolvency Service, while the correct amount of tax hadn’t been paid by Avya Gems, Brodie benefitted from dividends and operated a director’s loan account, which was overdrawn.

He secured an order in February 2012 that allowed him to continue acting as a director of limited companies, which would have covered his directorship of Jewelmark UK. The court granted this on the basis he complied with 21 conditions, but Brodie failed to honour his commitments.

He breached restrictions that he could not receive payments that exceeded £8,000 gross per month from the companies, and failed to publish copies of the 2012 court order and the 4-year disqualification undertaking in Jewelmark UK’s accounts.

He also failed to ensure that Jewelmark UK complied with its statutory tax obligations, when he received more than £540,000 in director’s loan payments between September 2015 and June 2017.

Lawrence Zussman, deputy head of Insolvent Investigations for the Insolvency Service, said: “The courts granted Daniel Brodie the ability to act as a company director despite a four-year ban. The jeweller, however, showed total disregard and blatantly breached the court’s conditions by committing similar instances of misconduct that led to his first ban.

“Daniel Brodie thought he could continue with impunity but thanks to our investigations, the jeweller has been removed from the business environment for a substantial amount of time.”