The director of a waste company has been banned for seven years after failing to explain the legitimacy of £1.14million worth of expenses.

Michael Martin, 44, from Erith in Kent, has been banned from acting as a director or becoming involved in the promotion, formation or management of a company after he failed to provide records to account for the payments.

ADM Skips was incorporated in June 2017 and Michael Martin became director in February 2018, with the company involved in disposing of non-hazardous waste.

But the company experienced difficulties and ceased trading in July 2019 before a liquidator was appointed to wind it up.

The liquidator reported to the Insolvency Service that Michael Martin had refused to co-operate with them during the process and didn’t produce any accounting records.

The Insolvency Service found that before entering liquidation, ADM Skips received more than £1.1m into its account and made payments out of a similar amount. Transactions included visa payments of close to £500,000 and foreign currency payments of £448,000.

Investigators were able to recover some records from the ADM Skip’s accountant but they could not explain the company’s transactions and the legitimacy of the payments.

Michael Martin has now been made subject to a disqualification order after the High Court of Justice found he had failed to ensure that ADM Skips Limited maintained and preserved adequate accounting records, or had failed to deliver up to the liquidator these records.

The order was pronounced on December 15, 2020 and the seven-year ban is effective from Tuesday January 5.

Dave Elliott, chief investigator at the Insolvency Service, said: "Michael Martin failed to work with the liquidator following the winding up of his company, refusing to account for more than £1 million that left the company accounts during his directorship.

"Directors who cause companies to fail to maintain and deliver sufficient accounting records can expect lengthy bans, and Michael Martin is now unable to act as a company director for a significant period."

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