Companies House to act on scams

Companies House has vowed to monitor how company accounts are submitted to its database in an effort to clamp down on fraudulent activity and the identity theft of auditors.

Accountants have become unwitting victims of fraudsters who have been using their names to verify the bogus accounts of fake companies.

Last week, Companies House told Accountancy Age that it would ‘certainly’ take the problem up in its continued drive to reduce fraud.

‘This is the first time that this problem has come across my desk,’ said Paul Reynolds of Companies House. ‘What I will have to do is talk to the people who develop the filing system. This is something I will take up. The reduction of fraud is in our interests.’

Last week’s revelations struck a nerve in practices across the country.

Carl Meedham, of credit check agency D&B, said that so-called ‘long-firm’ frauds, of which this is an example, lead to the loss of billions of pounds every year. ‘This is just the tip of the iceberg,’ he said.

Accountancy Age has fielded calls from accountants who have been caught out. ‘There is no reason why it should stop,’ said Jonathan Ford, director at Jonathan Ford & Co.