Ronald Albert Popely (70), residing in Gibraltar, Darren James Popely (52), from Sevenoaks, and Stephen William Dickson (64), from Belvedere, Bexley, were directors of Oak Forest Partnership Limited.
The company was incorporated in July 2010 and was previously known as Oak Property Partnership Limited. The company bought and refurbished Hever Hotel in Edenbridge, Kent, before offering people the opportunity to invest in hotel rooms.
Over 3 years, the directors leased approximately 82 rooms to investors for at least approximately £8.9 million.
In return, investors would receive 10% of the purchase price every year for 10 years, with the developer promising to buy back rooms after five years at the original purchase price.
Oak Forest Partnership, however, went into insolvency in February 2017 with creditors, including hotel room investors, claiming more than £14.8 million in the liquidation.
The company's liquidation triggered an investigation by the Insolvency Service before investigators uncovered that the directors caused Oak Forest Partnership to enter into three questionable agreements that benefited the company and left investors being owed millions of pounds
The directors made £20.6 million worth of payments, including £7.1 million paid to connected companies. Ronald Popely also acted as a director of the company, including during two years which were in direct breach of his previous 9-year ban.
The Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy accepted disqualification undertakings from all three directors, which prevents them from directly, or indirectly, becoming involved in the promotion, formation or management of a company, without the permission of the court.
Stephen Dickson was the first director to be banned and his 7-year disqualification commenced on 29 April 2022. Both Ronald and Darren Popely received 9-year bans, which began on 12 May and 18 May respectively.
Liquidators of Oak Forest Partnership are continuing to establish whether funds, or recovery of funds, is a viable option.
Dave Elliott, Chief Investigator at The Insolvency Service said:
While people were thinking they were using their money in genuine investment opportunities the directors were entering into questionable agreements that would benefit themselves ahead of the investors.
Ronald and Darren Popely, as well as Stephen Dickson, were aware of the implications of what they were doing and their bans should serve as a stark warning that if directors abuse the trust of their investors, we have recourse to remove you from the corporate arena for a significant amount of time.
Notes
Ronald Popely is of Malta and his date of birth is June 1951
Darren Popely is of Sevenoaks and his date of birth is September 1969.
Stephen Dickson is of Belvedere, Bexley and his date of birth is January 1958
Oak Forest Partnership Limited (previously known, until 06 March 2014, as Oak Property Partnership Limited) - Company number (07304723)
Disqualification undertakings are the administrative equivalent of a disqualification order but do not involve court proceedings. Persons subject to a disqualification order are bound by a range of restrictions.
