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.