KPMG has obtained a court order, forcing an Unwins director to answer questions, as it continues to investigate claims that money was transferred to Devereux Montague (DM), the retailer's private equity owner, in the lead up to the off licence chain’s collapse.

Only weeks after its appointment as administrators, KPMG called in its forensic team to investigate events leading up to the chain's collapse, amid calls from former staff for an official probe, The Daily Telegraph reports.

‘We have commenced an early investigation into matters that have come to our attention...particularly the use of bank accounts of DM to bank Unwins' takings in the period prior to administration,’ a KPMG report said.

KPMG is understood to be considering legal action against former directors including Devereux Montague backer Phillip Cook, an Australian businessman. Devereux Montague bought Unwins nine months before the off licence chain collapsed.

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