Charity dissolved and one trustee disqualified following investigation involving offensive online posting and lack of financial control
Pauline Muldowney, more commonly known as Pauline Gopee, was disqualified for 12 years on 7 December 2018 at the High Court of Justice.
The court heard that Pauline Muldowney was the sole formally appointed director of Pangold Investments Limited in March 2016 and just over a year later on 27 April 2017, a winding-up order was made against Pangold Investments.
Yet just four days before the company was going to be shut down by the courts, Pauline Muldowney caused Pangold Investments on 23 April 2017 to transfer property assets, with an estimated value of more than £2.5 million, to her father-in-law Dharam Prakash Gopee for just £1.
However, not only was Dharam Gopee a disqualified director, the transfer also breached a restraint order from June 2015 under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.
The restraint order was obtained by the Financial Conduct Authority against Dharam Gopee and his wife, as well as Pangold Investments and 16 other parties, which prohibited Dharam Gopee and Pangold Investments from dealing with their assets.
Following the winding-up of the company, the Official Receiver interviewed Pauline Muldowney to explain assets sales to her father-in-law.
She explained that properties owned by Pangold Investments were transferred to Dharam Gopee so that he could deal with them. Pauline Muldowney also admitted that she did not do a lot as a director of Pangold Investments and the only function she carried out was transfer the company’s property to her father-in-law.
By transferring the properties, Pauline Muldowney facilitated her father-in-law to collect rent and deal with properties in which the company had an interest but this was a direct breach of the restraining order.
By order of the courts, Pauline Muldowney is now banned from directly or indirectly becoming involved, without the permission of the court, in the promotion, formation or management of a company for 12 years.
Dharam Gopee has since been jailed for 15 months having admitted to the courts on 30 October 2017 that he had breached the restraint order. He was also held in contempt of court.
And on 9 February, Dharam Gopee was jailed for an additional three and a half years due to offences connected to business activities of Pangold Investments and other companies now in liquidation between August 2012 and December 2016. He was found guilty of contravening the Consumer Credit Act 1974 and the Financial Services & Markets Act 2000.
Peter Joicey, Deputy Official Receiver for the Official Receiver, said:
Despite being aware of the restraint order, Pauline Muldowney allowed herself to act as a stooge for her father-in-law when she transferred £2.5 million of the company’s property for a measly pound.
12 years is a substantial ban and this should act as a warning to those who allow themselves to be put forward as directors in order to mask the devious activities of those who are actually controlling limited companies from proper scrutiny.
Pauline Muldowney, more commonly known as Pauline Gopee, is from Southend and her date of birth is April 1970.
Pangold Investments Ltd (Company registration number 05923542)
The disqualification order against Mrs Muldowney was pronounced by Deputy ICC Judge Prentis in the Insolvency & Companies Court at the High Court of Justice, London.
Mr Paul Richard Warner, Deputy Official Receiver appeared for the Insolvency Service. Mrs Muldowney appeared in defence of the disqualification application.
A disqualification order has the effect that without specific permission of a court, a person with a disqualification cannot:
Persons subject to a disqualification order are bound by a range of other restrictions.
Further information about the work of the Insolvency Service, and how to complain about financial misconduct, is available.
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Courts disqualify stooge director for 12 years after she illegally transferred £2.5 million worth of property assets to her father-in-law.
Today (7 March 2019) the UK government confirmed details of measures that will ensure flights will continue if the UK leaves the EU without a deal.
This follows the publication of technical notices in October 2018 which clearly stated that the UK would adopt a pragmatic approach to securing flights.
This announcement comes as the EU is also about to finalise its no deal aviation regulation that will protect UK airlines flying into Europe. Both these proposals will ensure continued aviation connectivity in any scenario.
Aviation Minister Baroness Sugg said:
Measures put forward by the UK and the EU will ensure that flights can continue in any scenario; deal or no deal.
This is good news, not only for the industry but most importantly it reaffirms the fact that passengers can book flights with confidence, as normal.
We expect these contingency measures will never be needed and our efforts remain focused on securing a deal from the EU.
The government has set out how it will reciprocate to EU airlines the rights granted to UK airlines by the regulation.
Around 164 million passengers travel between the UK and the EU each year so these measures will ensure that passengers can continue to take business and leisure flights in a no deal scenario.
This announcement gives industry certainty and the public the assurance needed to book and fly with absolute confidence.
These proposals are a no deal contingency measure and will only come into force if the UK leaves the EU without a deal. The UK remains committed to securing a deal but continues to prepare for all scenarios.
Leaving the EU with a deal remains the government’s top priority. This has not changed.
However, a responsible government must plan for every eventuality, including a no deal scenario.
In December, Cabinet agreed to proceed with the government’s next phase of no deal planning. This means we are setting in motion our remaining no deal plans.
Both the EU and the UK have been clear that they are committed to maintaining air services in any scenario. Aviation links are a key priority for the Department for Transport. The UK has the third largest aviation network in the world, and the biggest in Europe. Air travel is vital for both the UK and the EU in connecting people and businesses, facilitating tourism and trade. The UK and EU have a mutual interest in maintaining well-functioning aviation markets.
The government has made preparations to deliver continuity of air services between the UK and the EU in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a withdrawal agreement. We set out in our technical notices in September 2018 that the UK would take a pragmatic approach to any no deal scenario, and provide EU airlines with permission to operate. We expected EU countries to reciprocate and provide permissions to UK airlines.
Following this, the European Commission proposed a regulation to ensure air connectivity in the event that the UK leaves without a withdrawal agreement. A final version of the draft regulation has been provisionally agreed by the EU. This is expected to be confirmed by the Council and the European Parliament shortly.
The provisionally agreed EU regulation is intended to apply after the UK leaves the EU, and would entitle UK airlines to continue operating air services from the UK to the EU until March 2020.
Accordingly, I am today publishing a policy statement to set out how the UK intends to provide the necessary permissions to member state airlines in order for them to operate to the UK. We have made all decisions in relation to how the UK will reciprocate based on 3 key principles.
First, we want to provide certainty and reassurance to industry and consumers.
Second, we want to minimise the potential for disruption.
Finally, we want to maintain a level playing field for UK industry, ahead of future negotiations.
Full details on how the UK will reciprocate are set out in the policy statement. In short, for the 12 month duration of the EU regulation, the UK intends to reciprocate the rights provided in the EU’s regulation, and grant EU air carriers a level of access to the UK at least equivalent to the rights that would be granted to UK airlines under the regulation. This includes traffic rights, ownership and control, leasing of aircraft, cooperative marketing arrangements and fair competition.
As an exceptional measure to ensure the continuity of regional services and to minimise disruption, we will for a short period go further and allow member state airlines to operate wholly within the UK for the IATA summer season 2019, which ends on 27 October 2019, ensuring continued regional connectivity and providing time for EU businesses to adjust to new arrangements. We will also allow code sharing on existing services to continue.
While continuing to plan for all eventualities, we also believe that it is right to underline the fact that the UK is taking a positive and pragmatic approach. Overall, we continue to believe that liberal, reciprocal market access is in the best interest of the EU countries and the UK, and we will move swiftly to propose negotiations on this basis in the event that the UK leaves without a withdrawal agreement.