The director of a waste company from Erith has been banned for seven years after failing to explain £1.14 million worth of payments which left his company.

ADM Skips and director Michael Martin have been the subject of an investigation from the Government's Insolvency Agency after ceasing trading in 2019 and could not account for over a million pounds which had left the company before then.

The company, incorporated in June 2017, operated in Bexley and north Kent, disposing of non-hazardous waste.

Mr Martin, of Erith, took over as director in February 2018, but in July 2009 the company ceased trading after experiencing difficulties.

A liquidator was appointed to wind up the company, but they ended up reporting the 44-year-old to the Government after he refused to cooperate with them during the produce, and failed to produce any accounting records.

The Insolvency Service investigated, and found that before entering liquidation, ADM Skips had received more than £1.1 million 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.

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The investigators said they were able to recover some records from the ADM Skip's accountant, but they simply could not explain the company's transactions, or prove the legitimacy of the payments.

The result is that Michael Martin has now been made subject to a disqualification order, effectively banning him from running a company for the next seven years.

The order was acquired from the High Court of Justice, which ruled 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 15 December 2020 and the seven-year ban is effective from 5 January 2021.

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."