Langbar in search for £350m

Langbar International is still trying to confirm the existence of its major asset ­ £350m in cash deposited in foreign bank accounts.

A spokeswoman confirmed that Langbar had appointed independent accountants to establish the existence of its cash assets, but refused to reveal the firm’s name, saying the information was ‘not in the public domain’.

Langbar, formerly known as Crown Corporation, is audited by a small Spanish firm, Gironella Velasco Auditores SA. The spokeswoman would not say whether Langbar’s auditors were the firm assessing the group’s assets Crown Corporation was floated by Canadian Mariusz Rybak in 2003, and renamed Langbar International when former Baker Tilly corporate financier Stuart Pearson took over the company in June.

Langbar is the latest cash shell listed on AIM to encounter difficulties in establishing the whereabouts of cash assets.

Rival cash shell Easier saw two auditors, Brebner Allen & Trapp and Deloitte, resign because they were unable to acquire information relating to Easier’s £5.3m cash assets.

Boustead, meanwhile, had a run in with auditors Kingston Smith, who said in February that there were ‘outstanding concerns’ relating to documentation of a £2.6m cash asset.

There are more than 80 cash shells listed AIM. By April 2006, they will have to complete mergers or reverse takeovers by private companies and begin trading.