- It has emerged that several board members have resigned on the basis of official documents
- Vertu Motors says this is the work of a “malicious actor” seeking an injunction
Vertu Motors has seen Companies House records wrongly altered to show that a number of directors had left the company and fictitious new directors had been appointed.
The official Companies House page of Britain’s third largest car dealer currently shows that several directors have resigned and two new directors, including one ‘Mr Ice Crystal Augustus’, have been appointed in their place.
The group, which is still trying to correct the data, is seeking an injunction to prevent further changes and wants an explanation from Companies House as to how this could happen.
The fraudulent changes are another embarrassment for Companies House
Vertu Motors was forced to issue a statement to investors on Wednesday explaining that its data had been “falsely altered by a malicious actor.”
The group said: ‘The company confirms that none of the above changes have legally occurred, and therefore the company’s board of directors remains unchanged and is listed on Vertu’s investor relations website and referenced in previous announcements.’
Among the directors said to have had their appointments terminated on the forged form are Chief Financial Officer Karen Anderson and Chief Operations Officer David Crane.
Vertu Motors added: ‘The company is liaising with Companies House to have the public data corrected, seeking an injunction to prevent further changes being made to the public data by the malicious actor and is working working with Companies House to determine how the malicious actor was able to gain access to Companies House systems to implement these changes.”
Official documents were falsely changed to show that the CFO and COO left the company
The fraudulent changes are another embarrassment for Companies House, after recent press reports highlighted the number of Britons who found out their home address had been registered as an address of unknown companies.
Business Minister Kevin Hollinrake told the Mail on Sunday this week that the government would tackle the problem head on.
“For far too long, this country has been fair game for criminals who abuse our system to register fraudulent companies,” Hollinrake said.
A Companies House spokesperson said: ‘We are aware of this matter and are working with the company to establish the facts.
‘Deliberately entering false information into the register is a serious crime and people found to have done so knowingly can face prosecution. A person found guilty may be fined or imprisoned for up to two years (or both).”
‘Mr Ice Crystal Augustus’ was depicted as being appointed director at Vertu