A BUSINESSMAN who sold more than £220,000 of duplicated carbon credits and created fictitious account records to cover up customer payments of £340,000 has been disqualified from acting as a director for 13 years.

Investigators from the Insolvency Service found that John Coates, who ran Green Deal Advice 247 Limited in Eastgate, Accrington, took the money for the carbon credits in the full knowledge that the company would either have to replace them or repay the money.

MORE TOP STORIES:

A carbon credit is a certificate or permit which represents the right to emit one tonne of carbon dioxide — and they can be traded for money.

Within two months of the payments being made, the company went into liquidation with debts of £301,423.

Investigators also found that John Coates, 49, of Great Harwood, and his son Robert Lee Coates, 27, of Clayton-le-Moors, also failed to explain the whereabouts of a company vehicle purchased for £33,500, which was still registered to Green Deal Advice 247 Limited at the date of liquidation.

The investigation found that John Coates sold duplicated carbon credits to the value of £222,145 and then made fictitious entries in the company’s accounting records to try to hide £343,000 paid to him and his wife.

John Coates, although not formally appointed a director of Green Deal Advice 247 Limited, was the dominant driving force behind the company, a spokesman for the Insolvency Service said. He was involved in the negotiations with energy companies to supply carbon credits in order for them to comply with the government’s Energy Company Obligations.

The investigation found that between October 28, 2013 and January 6, 2014, Green Deal Advice 247 Limited supplied 2,000 tonnes of carbon measures to one energy company for which it had received £222,145. Unbeknown to the customer, these measures had already been supplied to another energy company, and were therefore duplicated.

John Coates was told by the customer of the issue, and was made aware of the need to replace these carbon measures or issue a refund. But, between June 12, 2014 and July 24, 2014, £343,000 was transferred from Green Deal Advice 247 Limited’s bank account to accounts in the name of John Coates and his wife.

The company’s accounting records were changed to show fictitious payments for carbon measures supplied by unconnected parties.

When challenged by liquidator regarding a number of the transactions, John Coates produced bogus invoices to the value of £196,000 in an attempt to justify and explain them.

John Coates and Robert Lee Coates, who was the appointed director of Green Deal Advice 247 Limited throughout its trading life, also failed to maintain accounting records sufficient to show that a further £276,423 was spent for the benefit of the company’s trade, including the £33,500 car.

John Coates is banned from acting in the management, formation or promotion of a limited company for a period of 13 years, while his son has the same ban for nine years.

Robert Clarke, head of Insolvent Investigations North, said: “There was a very clear intention on the part of the directors to disguise their true actions by falsifying the company’s accounting records to give a completely different picture as to what had occurred.

“This ban should serve as a warning to other directors tempted to help themselves first. You have a duty to your creditors and if you neglect this duty you could be investigated by the Insolvency Service and removed from the business environment.”