Philip Mark Croshaw

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Philip Mark Croshaw was listed as a member of Kingstar Contracts, one of the Kingstar firms, whose one and only van, happened to be photographed at the 7/7 bomb site: Tavistock Square.

Yet in an interesting coincidence, he was apparently also listed as a member of Samara Medical Services, a firm run by the real owner of the 7/7 bomb factory, an Iraqi national named: Shakir Mahmoud Al-Ani.

His name also appears at centre of the international search for Milosevic millions, as he was allegedly a member of Daki International, which investigators believe was used as a clearing house for money transferred out of Yugoslavia.

His apparent partner in crime, James William Grassick, has been active in Lituhania.

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Many Britons who make a living from "the signing", as they call it, originate from the tiny Channel island of Sark, a notorious British tax haven. Following scandals more than a decade ago over the "Sark Lark", the group scattered, setting up residence in far-flung jurisdictions such as Cyprus, Dubai, Vanuatu, Mauritius, or Nevis in the Caribbean.

They make up teams of sham company directors, according to documents the Guardian has seen, taking money to disguise the real ownership of thousands of international companies. This is not illegal, and they generally say they are helping owners preserve legitimate privacy.

As long ago as 1999, Britain's sham director industry was officially struck down – or so it seemed. The minister Kim Howells, in the Department of Trade and Industry, boasted: "The government today struck a fatal blow against the practice of so-called 'nominee directorships'."

The government went to court to disqualify one Sark islander, Philip Croshaw, who was signing his name on company documents thousands of times. Howells said: "The trade in providing 'nominee director' services from the island of Sark has been a scandal … The courts have now effectively outlawed this abuse.

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February 1999: "NOMINEE DIRECTORSHIPS" OUTLAWED AS SARK BUSINESSMAN RECEIVES 12 YEAR BAN

The Government has struck a fatal blow against the practice of so-called "nominee directorships" - a lucrative device used by certain residents of the Channel Island of Sark to provide fronts for dubious British companies.

In a landmark judgement in the High Court in Manchester, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) successfully obtained a 12 year Disqualification Order against Philip Mark Croshaw. Croshaw, a resident of Sark, accepted that by acting as a "nominee director" of eight specified companies he totally neglected his duties and responsibilities as a director.

Competition and Consumer Affairs Minister, Kim Howells, said the courts had sent a clear signal that the practice of "nominee directors" will no longer be tolerated.

Dr Howells said:

"The trade in providing 'nominee director' services from the island of Sark has been a scandal. It has enabled those who are already disqualified to continue trading anonymously. The courts have now effectively outlawed this abuse.

"Nobody should be left in any doubt that we will act whenever there are serious failings by directors. There should be no hiding place for people who trade behind apparently respectable companies while cheating their customers and suppliers."

Dr Howells stressed that the crackdown was not intended to discourage a new generation of entrepreneurs.

"Many responsible people are involved in unsuccessful companies. I want to give them every opportunity to start up again in business if they have acted within the bounds of the law."

In disqualifying Croshaw for 12 years, Mr Justice Blackburne said that the message must go out that the office of director is one which carries responsibilities. He said the court would not tolerate the situation where someone takes on the directorship of so many companies and then totally abrogates responsibility. If tolerated, it would undermine the whole basis of corporate management.

The disqualification order against Croshaw, who did not defend the case at trial, was made in respect of his conduct as a director of Oldham Vehicle Contracts Limited (OVC), which operated a car rental and sales business between August 1994 and its compulsory winding-up on the 12 July 1996.

The business was run by Jeremy Vass who was himself already disqualified as a director following previous insolvencies. Although Vass ran the business, he was not recorded as a director of OVC until the last few weeks. The sole registered director up to that point was Philip Croshaw. Croshaw provided "nominee director" services from his own trading address in Sark, charging OVC #200 per annum.

Before the proceedings began, Croshaw was a director of more than 1,300 UK companies alone and had resigned from over 280 other companies. Of the companies where he had been a director, 16 had gone into some form of insolvency before the hearing.

Croshaw accepted that by acting as a "nominee director" of eight specified companies he totally neglected his duties and responsibilities as a director. He accepted that he took no part in the management of the business, that he took no steps to monitor, supervise or control those who were running the business and that he made no enquiries about the business, its finances or dealings.

As a consequence of acting as a "nominee director", Croshaw accepted that a number of failures occurred:

Since he had no knowledge of the financial affairs of OVC, he could not fulfil his duties to the company and its creditors after a time when it became insolvent. It ultimately failed leaving debts of more than #570,000;

He signed an application for a consumer credit licence for OVC which was materially false because it failed to disclose that Vass had any involvement with the company and failed to disclose Croshaw's own involvement in previous failed companies;

He failed to provide necessary information about OVC to the Official Receiver after the winding-up; and
Another company where he provided "nominee director" services (Invincible Industrial Chemicals Limited) had supplied unsolicited goods to three companies, made demands for payment, threatened proceedings and asserted a right to payment contrary to the Unsolicited Goods and Services Act, resulting in the conviction of Croshaw for five offences. Croshaw did not know that these activities were taking place.

The case against Jeremy Vass proceeded against him in his absence. He was disqualified for the maximum 15 years on a number of grounds, including acting as a director when he was disqualified, making misrepresentations to HM Customs and Excise resulting in OVC obtaining a benefit of #100,000 and failing to ensure that OVC accounted for all of its property).

The proceedings were brought by the Official Receiver who was respresented in court by David Richards QC, instructed by solicitors Cobbetts of Manchester.

The disqualification proceedings were brought under section six of the CDDA 1986 which allows the court to make a disqualification order of up to 15 years for unfit conduct.