Travel agency director struck off for 11 years after scam investigation
The finance director of a failed travel company has been disqualified for 11 years after he misused £700,000 worth of the company’s money.
An investigation by the government’s Insolvency Service found Jamie Tann, from Wallasey, Merseyside, had lost the funds on failed foreign exchange trades.
Tann, now 37, had joined Diamond Shortbreak Holidays, based in Market Harborough, in June 2013.
Four years later it was discovered that he was responsible for a payment worth £25,000 that hadn’t reached a supplier.
His employment was terminated just before Diamond Shortbreak Holidays went into administration in March 2017.
It went into liquidation the following February, causing job losses in the UK and in South Africa and leaving creditors owed more than £10 million.
The Insolvency Service investigation found that between March 2015 and January 2017 Tann had lost at least £713,000 conducting foreign exchange trades.
Further enquiries found that he caused Diamond Shortbreak Holidays to make payments due to the travel agent’s creditors into third party bank accounts and created false payment requests from its foreign exchange provider, which he then paid either to himself or a third party.
He also received funds due to Diamond Shortbreak Holidays and paid them into accounts not belonging to the company and did not pay the funds back to the travel agent.
He has now been banned for 11 years from directly or indirectly becoming involved in the promotion, formation or management of a company.
Martin Gitner, deputy head of insolvent investigations, said: "Jamie Tann was appointed to a position of trust at the company. However, he used that privilege to misuse hundreds and thousands of pounds on what turned out to be unsuccessful foreign exchange trades.
"11 years is a substantial ban and should serve as a warning to others that if you misuse company funds then we can have you struck off the register of company directors."
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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