Dominic Chappell, the former owner of U.K. retailer BHS, was fined for failing to provide information about the sale of the company to The Pensions Regulator, the agency said in a news release.
Mr. Chappell was required by the U.K. regulator to supply information as part of its investigation into the sale and subsequent collapse of BHS. He was convicted of all the charges in January.
"We prosecuted (Mr.) Chappell because despite numerous requests he failed to provide us with information we required in connection with our investigation into the sale and ultimate collapse of BHS. Choosing not to comply with our section 72 notices has now left him with a criminal record and a bill for more than £87,000 ($122,000), both of which he could have avoided if he had simply done what was required of him. Information notices are a vital investigative tool for us. Ignoring them is a crime that can lead to prosecution," Nicola Parish, TPR's executive director of frontline regulation, said in the Feb. 23 news release.
TPR also has a separate ongoing anti-avoidance action against Mr. Chappell with regards to the support of BHS pension funds, Ms. Parish said.
Following BHS' insolvency, the TPR launched so-called anti-avoidance cases in late 2016 against former owners Mr. Chappell and Philip Green. Mr. Chappell bought the U.K. retailer in March 2015 for £1 from Mr. Green. BHS subsequently collapsed in 2016.
The following March, TPR reached an agreement with Mr. Green to provide funding for a new pension fund to replace two BHS pension funds: the £421 million BHS Pension Scheme and the £95.1 million BHS Senior Management Pension Scheme.
