COMPANY DIRECTOR AVOIDS IMMEDIATE CUSTODY IN LARGE-SCALE ENVIRONMENTAL FRAUD CASE

A company director, represented by John Ojakovoh, avoided immediate imprisonment at Birmingham Crown Court last week following a three-day sentencing hearing. John’s client had faced charges of fraudulent trading in relation to the use of a company to defraud creditors and unlawfully dispose of waste in a case in which the total environmental costs and landfill tax evaded were said to have exceeded £3 million. However, following discussions with the Crown, John’s client pleaded guilty to six alternative counts of fraud by false representation and a Companies Act offence, as well as three counts of disposing of controlled waste. The sentencing judge accepted John’s detailed submissions on fraud value, totality and mitigation, and imposed a suspended sentence and compensation order.

John Ojakovoh was instructed by Simon Connelly and Laurence Grant, Consultant Solicitors at Duncan Lewis Solicitors.