Administrators of the failed buy-to-let empire of TV celebrity Grant Bovey have reportedly issued court orders against the former director, demanding that he pay back over £1 million to creditors of the collapsed company, called Imagine Homes.
Mr Bovey – best known as the husband of television presenter Anthea Turner – could also be banned from starting up another business, according to a report in The Times newspaper.
Imagine Homes and its subsidiaries fell into administration last year with debts of over £50 million, forcing Mr Bovey and his wife to move out of their £11 million mansion, into a smaller £5 million residence.
The property boss has always insisted that he didn’t take any money out of the company once troubles began to arise, however company accounts have shown that he received more than £4.3 million from Imagine Homes over two years. Most of this was given to him and his wife in the form of loans, which were waived by Mr Bovey, as controller of the buy-to-let business.
He is now being investigated by administrator, Deloitte, for any wrongdoing, with a report on him being submitted under the Company Directors’ Disqualification Act to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
In another report filed with Companies House, Deloitte revealed that court orders had been issued against Mr Bovey, stating: “There are loan amounts recorded in the books of the companies with former directors. Recovery...is under way, with all reasonable actions being taken, including the issues of statutory demands.”
It is thought that the sum of the statutory demand payment is more than £1 million. If the payment is not met within 21 days, creditors are able to file a bankruptcy petition.
A few weeks ago Anthea Turner spoke out about the effects of the failure of her husband’s business, telling the Daily Mail newspaper: “I did have this nice big house with a swimming pool and now I don't. So you move on. Financially, we're OK, though we're certainly not out of the mire – there's a lot of hard work to come.”
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