Crime Solicitors

Dorset Council’s Trading Standards department has prosecuted the director of a Gillingham-based company for fraudulently removing £16,206 from the company.

In April, Paulina Kubicz, 25 was sentenced at Bournemouth Crown Court after pleading guilty to an offence under the Insolvency Act 1986.

Kubicz was sentenced to 200 hours unpaid work, disqualified from being a company director for four years and confiscation proceeding were started under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

The court heard that, in 2012, Kubicz set up the company White Eagle Modern Building Services Ltd with two other directors. In 2014, they obtained a building contact in Sturminster Newton worth £120,000.

However, delays and few signs of work being done led to the customer complaining to the Federation of Master Builders (FMB), of which the company was a member.

An adjudication by the FMB found that the company should repay £58,000 to the customer. However, Kubicz and her fellow directors realised they could not afford to repay this, so they resigned from the FMB the following day and took advice about liquidating the company.

The company had also signed a contract with another customer in Somerset for around £74,000 – this customer did not know White Eagle had resigned from the FMB and he arranged for them to do a further £35,000-worth of work for him.

The court heard that Kubicz then set up a new bank account in her name, after making dishonest statements to the bank. She advised the customer the company had problems with their existing company bank account and asked him to pay £16,206 into the new account.

Later analysis of this account by Trading Standards showed that less than £500 of this money was spent at builders’ merchants – and most was spent on domestic expenditure and transfers to Poland.

In mitigation, Kubicz’s legal representative said she had been given conflicting advice about company law – and she was no longer involved in the business and was now working as a security officer at Bristol airport; adding that, depending on the outcome of the court case, she may have the opportunity of a job with the Ministry of Defence.

His Honour Judge Peter Johnson said that he noted that she was a young woman of previous good character and that her marketing skills exceeded her project management skills, but nonetheless she had misled the customer into paying the money into her account.

After sentencing, Trading Standards manager for Dorset County Council, Ivan Hancock, said:

“When a limited company goes into liquidation, this will often cause some disruption and distress to consumers and other businesses owed money.

“However, in this case, the director concerned sought to avoid their legal responsibilities, having failed consumers.

“This case illustrates that our Trading Standards service will consider using a full range of formal options – including a range of legislative controls and proceeds of crime recovery options, where companies or individuals act unfairly to the detriment of consumers.”

Duncan Lewis Criminal Lawyers

Duncan Lewis Criminal Lawyers can advise at any stage of a charge involving fraud or serious fraud, including charges relating to: