Dominic Chappell, the director and majority shareholder of the company that bought BHS for £1, has been ordered to pay over £87,000 for failing to give information to the Pensions Regulator.
On Friday, at Barkingside Magistrates’ Court, District Judge Gary Lucie ordered Chappell to pay a £50,000 fine, £37,000 costs and a £170m victim surcharge.
The case is the fifth criminal conviction secured by the regulator against individuals or organisations for failing to comply with section 72 notices.
Chappell failed to provide information that the watchdog required him to supply as part of its investigation into the sale and subsequent collapse of BHS.
He also failed to provide the regulator with information about a possible unauthorised disclosure of restricted material.
Chappell had pleaded not guilty to three charges of neglecting or refusing to give information and documents without a reasonable excuse, but was convicted of all the charges after a trial in January.
Judge Lucie said: “The court must send a message to those in senior positions that refusal to answer questions under section 72 will not be tolerated. The law is there for a purpose and it must be enforced. There is a complete lack of remorse on Mr Chappell’s part.”
Nicola Parish, the regulator’s executive director of frontline regulation, said: “We prosecuted Dominic Chappell because despite numerous requests he failed to provide us with information we required in connection with our investigation into the sale and ultimate collapse of BHS”
She added: “Choosing not to comply with our Section 72 notices has now left him with a criminal record and a bill for more than £87,000, both of which he could have avoided if he had simply done what was required of him.”
The regulator’s separate anti-avoidance action against Mr Chappell in respect of the BHS pension schemes is continuing.
