Brothers James and William Moir have been disqualified from acting as directors for six years by the Insolvency Service; nine months after their father Simon was hit with a 14-year ban.
The brothers, alongside their dad, were directors of Walsham Chalet Park which operated eight holiday parks across England; in Suffolk, Essex, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, Devon, Cornwall, East Sussex and Berkshire.
The duo joined the company in 2017.
The firm ran an investment scheme that allowed people to invest either in all or a portion of a chalet; they would then receive returns based on rental income.
According to investigators, following Walsham Chalet Park’s insolvency in 2019, it was discovered that 161 people paid the company £14.2m ($20.1m, €16.5m) to invest in chalets that were never built.
Thirty of those investors paid the holiday park company £1.8m to invest in chalets at a site in Gloucestershire that Walsham Chalet Park did not own.
A legal representative for the brothers confirmed to International Adviser that the company “held an option on the site” which was “not completed upon”.
Bans
The Insolvency Service then discovered that false accounts were sent to Walsham Chalet Park’s bank.
As a result, on 11 March 2021, the secretary of state accepted disqualification undertakings for the two brothers, who did not dispute that they breached their duties as company directors.
They are both prohibited from acting as director for six years.
Their father had already received a 14-year ban in September 2020.
Sue MacLeod, chief investigator at the Insolvency Service, said: “Millions of pounds were taken from investors for holiday chalets from James and William Moir’s company, despite Walsham Chalet Park not owning one site and the chalets never being built.
“As a result of this financial mismanagement, investors have lost substantial amounts of money and it is only right that these brothers are removed from being company directors for this significant period.”
