UK Companies Investigation Branch

From UK Daily Mail
2 January 2010


Robert Burns has a blunt message for cheats who set up companies to con the public. 'There is an organisation that can take action against you and put you out of business,' he warns. That organisation is the Companies Investigation Branch. You may not have heard of it - much of its work is confidential - but it may have quietly taken action to stop you falling victim to sharp practice.


Some traditional types of malpractice recur. One involves 'land banking', where plots of land are purchased and sold to investors on the basis that planning permission will be granted.
'We find time and time again that the prospects of planning permission are south of zero,' says Burns.
'In one case, the land had everything wrong with it from a development point of view. It was green belt, a heritage site and was on a flood plain. There was just about every conceivable obstacle.'