Lloyd Edward Hinton v Dr Marek Stobinski

Facts

The applicant, Lloyd Hinton, is the liquidator of St. Mark Lions Limited. The company was incorporated on 19 March 2015 and entered creditors' voluntary liquidation on 12 October 2022. The respondent, Dr Marek Stobinski, a medical doctor, was its sole director and shareholder, and the company appears to have been a service company for some of his medical work. Almost no books and records were delivered up. After an HMRC compliance check, the company's accountants prepared amended accounts, which Dr Stobinski approved. For the last accounting period, they showed 'Other Debtors' of £112,506. Corporation tax had meanwhile been left unpaid year after year. The Liquidator applied under rule 1.35 of the Insolvency (England and Wales) Rules 2016, mainly relying on section 212 of the Insolvency Act 1986, and claimed £214,195.29 plus interest. That sum was made up of three elements: the £112,506 balance, said to be an overdrawn director's loan account; £63,189.29 of unexplained 'Other Payments'; and £38,500 paid to Dr Stobinski and described as 'MGMT CHARGE'. The Liquidator alleged breaches of sections 171, 172, 174 and 175 of the Companies Act 2006 while the company was insolvent or bordering on insolvency. In the alternative, he claimed the loan account balance as a simple debt. Dr Stobinski disputed the loan account and argued that the debt claim could not be brought under section 212 and was a nullity. There was also an alternative claim under section 238 of the Insolvency Act 1986. The application was tried before a Deputy ICC Judge.