Lee William Connor, 40, from Basildon in Essex, was the sole director of Regal Coinage Ltd, a dealer of collectible coins based in London, until it went into liquidation in February 2022.
The company claimed to sell rare and investable coins to customers, and to act as a brokerage, selling coins on their behalf.
When the business folded, owing more than £300,000, the company’s administrators notified the Insolvency Service that customers had not received coins they had paid for, which triggered an investigation.
Bank statements examined by investigators showed that between March 2020 and November 2022, a customer made payments totalling £162,000 to both the company and directly to Connor, including at least £83,250 for coins that were to be held by the company for resale on the customer’s behalf.
But investigators discovered that these coins were not in Regal Coinage Ltd’s possession when the business went into liquidation, and the company had no assets when it folded.
Connor had failed to supply the customer with coins that they had bought, or pass on any funds from coins sold on their behalf, meaning the customer was left out of pocket by at least £155,499.
Martin Gitner, Deputy Head of Insolvent Investigations at the Insolvency Service, said :
Lee Connor took a substantial amount of money from a member of the public who believed they were dealing with a trustworthy coin expert.
His lengthy ban should be a warning to others that we will take action to remove rogue directors from the business arena.
Connor, who was listed on the company’s records as a professional numismatist – someone who studies and collects coins – had previously been director of two similar coin businesses, Hallmark Coins and Sourcing Coins. He had earlier been employed by another company, Regency Coins, whose directors were disqualified for similar practices.
He was banned as a director on 30 August 2023 for 11 years. His disqualification prevents him from becoming involved in the promotion, formation or management of a company, without the permission of the court. Photo by Cristiano Betta, Wikimedia commons.