Private investigator hired in hunt for developer with £200k debt

Thursday 13 October 2022

The Royal Court has raised the alarm in Jersey, London and Dubai over a property developer who has been dodging court officials trying to resolve his bankrupt company’s £212,000 debts for more than two years.

So “evasive” was SPARC Group Director Andrew Jeremy Mills that more than £15,000 has been spent on chasing him and the Viscount was even forced to instruct a private investigator to work out where he was living.

In a landmark ruling handed down last month and only recently made public, he has been banned from holding a company management position for 10 years.

It was the first disqualification case to be decided by the Royal Court since the maximum period for disqualification was increased from five to 15 years in 2002.

Mr Mills' company was declared 'en désastre' in February 2020, leaving him legally obliged to work with the Viscount by providing details of property and his income and spending, for example, to work out how creditors can be paid.

But the Royal Court heard last month that Mr Mills "did not cooperate as he was required" under the law.

Pictured: Under the island's bankruptcy law, Mr Mills was obliged to assist the Viscount by providing information.

While he was apparently prepared to speak to a representative of the Viscount on the phone "from time to time", he "did not respond properly or (frequently) at all to the correspondence sent to him", the Court explained in its judgment.

He repeatedly promised to return a questionnaire sent to him in March 2020 – assuring that it would be done "'today' on more than one occasion" – but never did.

It wasn't until 15 months later in June 2021, after "further deadlines and failed promises", that he returned the form only "partially completed". The Viscount described it as "woefully inadequate".

The form saga led to another, more extensive request for information, which the court heard he had "failed to reply to at all", despite indicating that he had received it and would do.

At one stage, Mr Mills moved home without telling the Viscount – then, Advocate Elaine Millar, now Social Security Minister - his new address. She was "forced" to pay for a private investigator to find out where he was.

Mr Mills "repeatedly asked for additional time", telling the Viscount that he was too sick, but was never able to provide evidence of his "ill health".

The Viscount's officer described Mr Mills as "evasive" – a view the court said it agreed with.

A timeline prepared by the Viscount's team provided "detailed proof" of how Mr Mills had "delayed, prevaricated, misled and ultimately failed to assist" with any of the enquiries.

It included further investigations by the Viscount which revealed that, just weeks after SPARC Group had been declared bankrupt in Jersey, a new company with a similar name sprung up with an address at St. James Place in London.

"Mr Mills has failed to explain any connection between the activities of this new entity and those formerly carried out by the company," the court noted.

He had also failed to reply to any correspondence since promising a reply "early next week" on 25 June 2021, save to say that he was away until July 2021 "staying with family."

The Viscount didn't hear from him again, until he was notified of the impending Royal Court case against him.

He responded that he was staying with friends in Somerset before heading to South Africa and returning early next year. He failed to show up in court – or secure legal representation – for the case.

Pictured: Mr Mills did not appear in court.

The Court heard that the claims filed in the bankruptcy amounted to £212,808. Even though the principal creditor had provided indemnity funding of £10,000 to meet the costs of the administration of the bankruptcy, this money had been "exhausted", with the Viscount incurring additional costs exceeding £5,000.

The Royal Court concluded that Mr Mills had "flagrantly breached" his obligations under the law, having "misled the Viscount on numerous occasions."

"Bearing in mind that an order for disqualification is designed to protect the public and bearing in mind the position of Jersey as a finance centre and the need to ensure that directors in the place of Mr Mills comply with their obligations under statute a lengthy period of disqualification is warranted," said Deputy Bailiff Robert MacRae, sitting with Jurats Kim Averty and David Hughes.

"We have no doubt that Mr Mills is a person unfit to be concerned in the management of a body corporate."

Pictured: The Royal Court concluded that a disqualification was an important way of protecting the public and Jersey's position as a finance centre.

They subsequently banned him from being a company Director or holding any position involved in the management of a company for a decade and ordered that their decision be advertised in Jersey, London and Dubai.

Mr Mills was also ordered to cover the costs of the Royal Court case.