A fake hospitality company has been shut down by the Insolvency Service after selling £230,000 of fake British Grand Prix hospitality tickets.
Informa Expo labelled itself on Companies House as providing 'non-specialised wholesale trade', but up to August 2022 it was formally known as Informatic Solutions. It was also trading as Informa Hospitality Group.
The Cardiff based firm advertised discounted tickets for the Silverstone Grand Prix claiming that the sale was due to mass cancellations.
Those who fell victim to the scam did not receive their hospitality tickets and could not contact Informa Expo as its email and phone lines had been disconnected.
The chief investigator at the Insolvency Service said: 'Informa Expo never had the rights to hospitality packages for this year's British Grand Prix. This did not stop it, however, from scamming businesses out of significant sums of money.
This is the third company claiming to sell hospitality packages for high profile sporting events we have successfully applied to have wound up in the last year.'
Investigations into the company began in May 2024, uncovering 'no evidence of any legitimate trading' since it was incorporated in 2022. Its accounts are also overdue, with none ever being filed.
The hospitality provider for the British Grand Prix was aware of the false tickets being sold, serving a cease-and-desist letter for the sale of fake tickets. The governing body of motorsport, the FIA, were also aware of the scam, publishing warnings about the company.
Two companies the Insolvency Service shut down earlier in 2024 operated in a similar fashion to Informa, with one, Prive Global Sports, receiving three payments of £42,000 in January 2024.
Additionally, the hoax company was charging VAT on the sale of the packages, making £46,000 in tax, with none being paid to HMRC.
When visiting the previous registered address of Informa, in Manchester, investigators were told the company had no presence in the building and no right to be there either.
The sole director of the company, Arkawan Hamad Jalal, could not be contacted by the Insolvency Service investigators.
Usher said: 'We will not tolerate companies acting in such an objectionable manner which is clearly not in the public interest and we will continue to take robust action if we uncover evidence of similar wrongdoing from other businesses.'
Peter Nichols
Tax Director BFN Accounts & Tax Limited