 Investment. The executive, 58 at the time, alerted bosses when he received an £11,628 bill to insure a Bentley and a Rolls-Royce. He sent an email to CEO Ying Xu, saying: 'Unless we know where the money is coming from, we cannot commit to this expenditure as we already owe too much money. 'Frankly, we do not have the funds to operate the business.' The employment tribunal in London was told that Mr Williams believed this was a 'very serious matter for the directors'. He cautioned that they were likely to break insolvency law – because they were unable to repay their debts – and were at risk of wrongful and fraudulent trading in the UK. When suppliers started to take legal action to try and claim their money, Mr Williams again tried to warn his boss. He sent an email saying: 'I believe there is now a very real danger the [company] is trading whilst insolvent and that the company directors are directly exposed to the implications of wrongful and/or fraudulent trading. 'With this, comes the direct risk of civil and criminal sanctions.' Eventually, in February 2020, chairman Wei Ping Xu told Mr Williams he wanted him to leave the business. But Mr Williams stayed on – until he felt he had to flag danger again in April that year. He told senior managers the firm owed more than £3 million to creditors but had less than £300,000 in the bank. Drugs queenpin, 25, caught running entire operation on her ownDuring this time, Mr Williams was 'undermined' and 'treated detrimentally' for whistleblowing, employment judge Carol Porter found. She said: 'He was excluded and prevented from doing his job, including dealing with his team. Other people were being asked to fulfil his role but were doing it badly. 'He was left, as finance di){kind=link}
NEWS… BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT
A finance director was fired for trying to raise the alarm that his company was seemingly going broke and trading illegally.
Sam Williams went on to sue for unfair dismissal and was paid £754,380 in compensation for the way he was treated at ABP (London) Investment.
The executive, 58 at the time, alerted bosses when he received an £11,628 bill to insure a Bentley and a Rolls-Royce.
He sent an email to CEO Ying Xu, saying: ‘Unless we know where the money is coming from, we cannot commit to this expenditure as we already owe too much money.