Court to decide fate of Astra archive
The High Court will tomorrow rule whether the official receiver can destroy the entire archive of accounting records relating to Astra Holdings, the defunct company embroiled in the arms to Iraq affair.
Besides the official receivers, Gerald James, former chairman of Astra who is fighting his expulsion from the accountancy profession, will also be present at court tomorrow. James told AccountancyAge.com the archive of 2,600 boxes is crucial to his appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.
The Department of Trade and Industry received an application to destroy the archive which is standard procedure following the completion of the insolvency process.
A spokeswoman for the DTI said the official receivers no longer need the files, but no records will be destroyed until all avenues have been explored. She said one of the reasons for destroying the files was because they were stored at the public’s expense.
James, however, said he had offered to look after the documents at no expense, but his offer had been turned down.
Links
PwC denies withholding Astra records
DTI seeks to destroy Astra accounting records
European Court appeal for Gerald James
Gerald James launches appeal against JDS decision