Company Director without knowing

[jo strummer]

Can someone become a Company director without being aware that they are? I know you can do most of the registration process online but I always understood you actually had to sign the form declaring you were who you say you are. I had a corporate solicitor telling me yesterday that someone could be made a director online without being aware of it.

Both my solicitor and my accountant tell me this is crap. Interested in other peoples view on this.

[JamieBeeston]

legitimately be one.. no.

be one in the real world sure... identity theft / fraud is rife.

J

[Eric Mc]

If someone forges your signature on a Form 288, you could illegally become a director.

[jo strummer]

Thanks Eric, no this is a case of after the event a gentlemans solicitor is trying to argue that his client did not know he was a Director of the business when I know that he did. The solicitor is claiming it could all be set up online, but my contention is that paperwork still has to be signed, and I know the signiture was the gentlemans. Its his solicitor who has dropped the ball here big time.

[Eric Mc]

It should be easy to obtain a copy of the Form 288 which would have been submitted to Companies House when the directors were being appointed. No doubt, a Form 288 will exist with this chap's signature sitting on it.

There is no way he can deny that this is his signature unless he claims it was forged.

However, it is possible these days for 288s to be filed on-line. To do that, the filer has to have been allocated a Government Gateway reference, a PIN and a Password.
It is possible that someone may have illegally obtained all these (supposedly secret) codes and submitted a 288 claiming he was this individual. Alternatively, this chap may have passed on this information on to an individual knowingly and then this individual used the access codes to make the other guy a director. How all this could be sorted out in a court of law is anybody's guess.

[jo strummer]

Thanks Eric no nothing as serious as all that a solicitor made a fundamental mistake and trying to cover his arse, rest assurred could not have happened to a nicer guy!

[Eric Mc]

I'd do a Company Search, get the copy of the relevant form and wave it in the face of this solicitor.

[jo strummer]

Thanks Eric no nothing as serious as all that a solicitor made a fundamental mistake and trying to cover his arse, rest assurred could not have happened to a nicer guy!