Jailed, the Manchester business leaders who 'lied on a prolific scale' to move £13.7m to British Virgin Islands

Three Manchester businessmen have been jailed for contempt of court for defying freezing orders by 'spiriting away' £13.7m from Barclays Bank.

Scott Dylan, the 'ringleader', and two associates, David Antrobus and Jack Mason, were behind a 'deliberate and planned flouting' of court orders when they moved the assets of a group of 60 companies they controlled to the British Virgin Islands, a judge has ruled.

Dylan admitted contempt of court during his trial which ended with his two co-accused also found to be in contempt of court. They were each jailed for 22 months. Dylan was sent down immediately to serve his sentence while the judge issued warrants for the arrest of Antrobus and Mason who failed to turn up in court, according to the ruling.

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The published High Court ruling reveals Barclays Bank took legal action against the trio and others in 2021 alleging an 'unlawful conspiracy to take advantage of automated decision making at Barclays to make unauthorised borrowings through group companies'.

The bank obtained freezing orders prohibiting the disposal of assets worth up to £13,734,716.57. But the ruling said that 'virtually an entire group of some 60 companies has been transferred out of the country'.

One of those companies was Fresh Thinking Group Limited (FTG), co-founded by Dylan and Antrobus in 2018. Another was Inc Travel Group (ITG) Ltd which owned Baldwins Travel Agency Ltd. These and others in the group 'have been left in administration, as empty shells', according to the ruling.

In his judgment, Mr Justice Rajah said: "This was a deliberate and planned flouting of the freezing order to move assets out of the reach of this Court. This was a joint enterprise by all three respondents, who were the founders, owners and leaders of this group of companies. It was a planned transfer of assets out of the jurisdiction to new vehicles which they were each interested in.

"It was a not unsophisticated plan – the complexity was in making it hard to prove what had occurred. Mr Dylan appears to have been the 'brains' who cooked up this plan but they have all gone along willingly with it."

Antrobus resigned as a director of FTG while Mason resigned as director of ITG the day before the transfers 'to assist the plan and obfuscate the involvement of the Respondents', said Mr Justice Rajah.

The judge added: "Mr Dylan may have had a leading role, but Mr Antrobus and Mr Mason are confident, astute business leaders who fully signed up to the plan. They were neither naïve followers nor bullied into going along with these plans."

Dylan even 'wrote anonymous letters from a non-existent legal department to Barclays putting up the shutters on the provision of information'. The trio 'have obfuscated and created false stories and explanations'.

The judge said 'all three have lied to the court on a prolific scale', and he went on that there was 'no sign that they have any intention of returning the assets to this jurisdiction'.

He added: "I regard Mr Antrobus and Mr Mason as slightly less culpable than Mr Dylan because he was clearly the ringleader and this was his idea. But their culpability is still high.

"Each of Mr Antrobus and Mr Mason played a leading role as the owners and leaders of this group of companies in the plan to send it offshore. They are confident, savvy men who signed up to Mr Dylan's plan, helped to implement it and joined together to put up a united front in deflecting any attempt by Barclays to pursue the assets."

Scott Dylan was also ordered to pay £750,000 towards Barclays' costs. He admitted two counts of contempt of court.

Antrobus was in Ireland but refused to provide his address, according the judgment. Mason also faces bankruptcy, the court heard. Antrobus and Mason have also each been ordered to pay £450,000 each towards costs. They were each found to have committed four counts of contempt of court.