Two entrepreneurs behind a complex web of businesses that owned Baldwins Travel have been found guilty of contempt of court after transferring ownership of their shares to a company in the British Virgin Islands.
Barclays brought a civil case against Jack Mason, previously Chief Executive of Baldwins’ parent Company Inc & Co Group and the travel company’s former director, David Antrobus, Inc’s Chief Technology Officer, and their business associate and fellow shareholder Scott Dylan.
The bank claimed all three conspired to move assets offshore in breach of various freezing orders it had taken out to try to recover more than £13.7 million of ‘unauthorised’ borrowing.
The freezing orders, issued in November 2021 shortly after Inc & Co Group had bought Baldwins Travel, prohibited them from disposing of or transferring any assets to the value of the sum Barclays claimed it was owed.
However, on 22 March 2022, assets owned by the businessmen – including Baldwins Travel – were transferred to a holding company in the BVIs.
Initially all three businessmen insisted the transfers were carried out by a Seychelles-based director ‘Rea Barreau’. Mason and Antrobus said they were unaware of the transactions as they’d resigned as directors of the various companies the day before.
However, in a surprising u-turn on day two of the trial, Dylan pleaded guilty to two of the four charges. Barclays is not pursuing two remaining charges against him.
Finding Mason and Antrobus guilty of contempt of court, the judge said he didn’t accept the explanation that the transfers were the work of ‘Rea Barreau’, nor that she was even appointed as a director of the businesses as was claimed.
Mr Justice Rajah said both Antrobus and Mason ‘presented as competent, confident and able business people’ and that ‘their evidence that they had naively and unquestioningly accepted important matters they were told by Mr Dylan or others, or signed important documents that were drafted for them by nameless people, strained credulity’.
Mason, Antrobus and Dylan will be sentenced in October. Mason, who lives in Barcelona, has been required to surrender his passport.
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Barclays brought a civil case against Jack Mason, previously Chief Executive of Baldwins’ parent Company Inc & Co Group and the travel company’s former director, David Antrobus, Inc’s Chief Technology Officer, and their business associate and fellow shareholder Scott Dylan.
The bank claimed all three conspired to move assets offshore in breach of various freezing orders it had taken out to try to recover more than £13.7 million of ‘unauthorised’ borrowing.
The freezing orders, issued in November 2021 shortly after Inc & Co Group had bought Baldwins Travel, prohibited them from disposing of or transferring any assets to the value of the sum Barclays claimed it was owed.
However, on 22 March 2022, assets owned by the businessmen – including Baldwins Travel – were transferred to a holding company in the BVIs.
Initially all three businessmen insisted the transfers were carried out by a Seychelles-based director ‘Rea Barreau’. Mason and Antrobus said they were unaware of the transactions as they’d resigned as directors of the various companies the day before.
However, in a surprising u-turn on day two of the trial, Dylan pleaded guilty to two of the four charges. Barclays is not pursuing two remaining charges against him.
Finding Mason and Antrobus guilty of contempt of court, the judge said he didn’t accept the explanation that the transfers were the work of ‘Rea Barreau’, nor that she was even appointed as a director of the businesses as was claimed.
Mr Justice Rajah said both Antrobus and Mason ‘presented as competent, confident and able business people’ and that ‘their evidence that they had naively and unquestioningly accepted important matters they were told by Mr Dylan or others, or signed important documents that were drafted for them by nameless people, strained credulity’.
Mason, Antrobus and Dylan will be sentenced in October. Mason, who lives in Barcelona, has been required to surrender his passport.
The post Former Baldwins Travel director found guilty of contempt of court appeared first on Travel Gossip.
Continue reading...
