A former bankrupt from Essex has been sentenced to eight months in prison for failing to disclose assets and bank accounts in his bankruptcy. Simon Peter Eagle (54) from Harlow in Essex was made bankrupt in 2003 but was recently sentenced at Chelmsford Crown Court after a joint investigation by the Insolvency Service and the Department for Business Innovation and Skills.
The sentence was handed down to Mr Eagle for failing to disclose two Lloyds Bank accounts and also for not disclosing an interest in a property that was located in Witham, Essex. These are standard requirements in a person’s bankruptcy and the Court decided that the non-disclosure of these assets was made in calculated attempt to avoid them being involved in his bankruptcy.
It appears that the bankruptcy was initially caused by a creditor that petitioned against Mr Eagle in the sum of £8,000. This debt was later settled however, due to the legal fees that were incurred in this initial process a second bankruptcy petition was presented against Mr Eagle due to non-payment of these fees.
Aside from this situation Mr Eagle appears to have had various controlling interests in companies that dealt in shares and had attracted the interest for the Financial Services Authority who imposed a £2.8 million pound civil penalty in relation to share ramping; this is the largest fine ever imposed by the FSA.
The Trustee is still making enquiries into the locations of Mr Eagle’s assets and a confiscation order of over £24,000 was also made by the Court-the proceeds of which will be paid to Mr Eagle’s creditors.
Source Insolvency Service Press Release
