TWO more company directors have agreed to lengthy boardroom bans after their separate firms in Co Down and Co Armagh each went bust owing nearly £3 million combined.
And it means that in the current financial year the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment, which initiates these cases, has accepted 25 disqualification undertakings from rogue directors while the courts have made eight disqualifying orders.
Retail outlets boss Patrick Owen McGrath (42) from Long Island Drive in Kircubbin was banned for seven years in respect of his conduct as a director of SRS Supermarkets, which operated a number of Mace stores in Comber, Donaghadee and Larne.
SRS went into liquidation in October 2013 owing £850,321, and among the areas of unfit conduct to which he admitted was permitting the company bank accounts to be misused by operating a practice of so-called "cheque kiting".
This is a fraud committed against a banking institution in which access is gained to deposited funds in one account before they can be collected from another account upon which they are drawn. The scheme usually involves several checking accounts at several different banks.
McGrath also caused SRS to abuse a retail agent agreement with a third party by failing to pay over £25,982 of funds collected on their behalf.
Meanwhile Marcus Morgan (42) from Lurgancott Lane in Kilmore accepted a five-year disqualification undertaking from being a director after his road freight transport business Derrymorgan Ltd, based in Loughgall, crashed just before Christmas 2012 with debts totalling £2,073,400.
He admitted withholding £908,365 properly due in income tax, national insurance and VAT over a number of tax years, and also failing to file accounts for several trading years dating back to 2004.
Morgan's company also failed to provide annual returns on time period on seven separate trading years.
