FIRM
MENTORS A NEW PROGRAM GIVES SMALL, MINORITY-OWNED FIRMS A CHANCE TO GAIN EXPERIENCE
FROM LARGE CORPORATIONS
Four
corporations and three individuals publish intents with OK ABLE Commission
Mea
Corporation duo banned as directors
National
City Corporation to Buy Fidelity Bankshares for 4.35 Times Revenue
Renewable
names in demand by corporations
WHEN
CASH IS KING AT CORPORATIONS, BANKS SEE GREEN, TOO
Women's
council to discuss big corporations
Event
Brief of Q2 2006 Thoratec Corporation Earnings Conference Call - Final
About
Cordis Corporation
Apache
Corporation - CFO Interview
Boise-based
OX-GEN Corporation is breathing new life
CIRI
plans shopping, entertainment center MULDOON Native corporation says it hopes
to lure Target
Cisco
System revolutionizes Saudi Post Corporation's network infrastructure
Dana
Corporation Earns TRITEC Supplier of Year Awards for Second Consecutive Year
Democrats
criticize Risch property tax plan They say raising sales tax, cutting property
tax would help corporations and real-estate investors
Mea Corporation duo banned as directors
Two men responsible for the collapse of three companies, and an alleged role in the demise of another contractor, have been banned from managing a firm for a combined total of 18 years.
John Aviss of Tatsfield, Kent, and William Berry of Melton Mowbray, were disqualified at a High Court hearing last week, brought by the Department of Trade & Industry (DTI) and the Insolvency Service.
The case was a result of the investigation into the collapse in 2001 of heating and maintenance firm Mea Corporation (Mea) and its two subsidiaries, Mea Projects (Projects) and CJ Bartley & Co (CJB), with debts of nearly ?19.5m.
Mea Corporation was run by Aviss. It acquired Projects and CJB in 2000.
Aviss was given a seven-year ban and Berry, who although not classed officially as a director had taken on director duties at Mea while disqualified, was banned for 11 years.
Both were spared the maximum penalty of 15 years, as Judge Mr Justice Lewison said neither man benefited personally from the misapplication of funds.
Although the case focused solely on Mea, questions remain over their role in the December 2001 collapse of Hertfordshire-based contractor Bickerton, which owed unsecured creditors ?4.5m.
Aviss bought the firm in June 2001 from Artisan. It is alleged that Berry took on shadow director roles at the firm (see panel).
No case has yet been brought against the two men for the Bickerton affair, despite a Serious Fraud Office investigation with Cleveland Police, which resulted in the arrest and release on bail of both men, plus five others, a year after the company's collapse.
CJ understands that the DTI was warned twice in the lead-up to Bickerton's collapse of claims that Berry was making management decisions on behalf of Aviss, despite being disqualified from being a director until March 2004.
Aviss blamed the collapse of Bickerton on misleading financial information during its purchase - an accusation Artisan successfully challenged in the High Court in 2004.
The same excuse was used over the fate of the Mea group.
The full High Court hearing, to which both men failed to attend, revealed through witness testimonies from six key Mea staff members that a new centralised 'treasury system' was introduced by Aviss and Berry. This came after some financial understating was found with Projects soon after its acquisition. This allowed funds to be transferred to other firms that Aviss had an interest in, to the detriment of the group (see panel).
The centralised system also meant that creditors were not being paid on time, despite protests from senior Mea staff and the company's bank.
CJ was unable to contact either men at the address provided to the courts.
Mr Justice Lewison said: "Every director of a company owes fiduciary duties to that company... these duties are personal and inescapable.
"In my judgment, both Mr Aviss and Mr Berry failed to respect this fundamental principle."