The investigation by the Insolvency Service found that Crimson Fine
Wines Limited, based initially in London and then in Sittingbourne in
Kent, used cold calling tactics and then failed to purchase or allocate
wines to customers who had paid for their investments. The scheme
offered investors returns over 12 months to five years, at a time when
they claimed the property market and shares were less attractive.
The Secretary of State for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy
accepted disqualification undertakings from Craig Cooper and Jefferey
Kushner, preventing them from acting as directors for 11 and 9 years
respectively.
Kushner was the listed director of Crimson Fine Wines Limited but
lived in Canada, and allowed Cooper, who had previous experience in the
industry, to run the operation.
As a result of this failure, at the time of liquidation of Crimson
Fine Wines Limited there was insufficient wine held in the bonded
warehouse to satisfy customers’ claims.
Additionally, Cooper used the company’s bank account for his own
personal benefit, used his own personal bank account for the receipt of
company funds and was paid at least one third share of £114,106 in
dividends. Kushner was negligent in failing to monitor the company
account, allowing it to be used for non-commercial benefits, but also
received at least one third share of £114,106 in dividends.
Customer claims in the liquidation totalled £989,258, of the overall debts on liquidation of £1,080,724.
Karen Jackson, Official Receiver, said:
One of the main purposes of the Company
Directors Disqualification Act is to ensure proper standards of conduct
of company directors are maintained and to raise those standards where
appropriate.
These disqualifications should serve as a
reminder that the Insolvency Service will investigate unacceptable
conduct by company directors.
The Insolvency Service will take action against directors who do not take their obligations seriously and abuse their position.
Notes to editors
Jeffrey Kushner’s date of birth is December 1980 and he resides in Ontario, Canada.
Craig Cooper’s date of birth is January 1983 and he resides in Chatham, Kent.
Crimson Fine Wines Ltd (CRO No. 07537346) was incorporated on 15
January 2008 and latterly traded from Sears Business Centre, 3-9 Station
Street, Sittingbourne, United Kingdom, ME10 3DU.
Cooper was initially appointed as the company’s co-director with
Kushner from incorporation on 1 February 2011. Cooper then resigned as a
director at Companies House on 22 March 2011 but continued to act as a
director until the company went into liquidation on 17 August 2015. The
estimated deficiency at the date of Liquidation was £1,080,724.
On 18 July 2017, the Secretary of State accepted a Disqualification
Undertaking from Craig Cooper, effective from 8 August 2017, for 11
years.
On 25 May 2017, the Secretary of State accepted a Disqualification
Undertaking from Jeffrey Kushner, effective from 15 June 2017, for 9
years.
A disqualification order has the effect that without specific permission of a court, a person with a disqualification cannot:
- act as a director of a company
- take part, directly or indirectly, in the promotion, formation or management of a company or limited liability partnership
- be a receiver of a company’s property
Disqualification undertakings are the administrative equivalent of a
disqualification order but do not involve court proceedings.
Persons subject to a disqualification order are bound by a range of other restrictions.’
