TONY HETHERINGTON: The jailed boss… with two names

Tony Hetherington is Financial Mail on Sunday’s ace investigator, fighting readers corners, revealing the truth that lies behind closed doors and winning victories for those who have been left out-of-pocket. Find out how to contact him below.

Gallery mode: Jon Sullivan

A.T. writes: I am pretty sure that Jonothan Piper, jailed for running Embassy Wine UK Ltd, is the same person as Jon Sullivan, now an adviser at Yield Gallery, an art investment company.

Piper cannot be a director of any company as he is disqualified.

Tony Hetherington replies: Well done for spotting the remarkable similarity between Mr Piper and Mr Sullivan. In 2016, Jonothan Piper, then aged 30, was jailed for five and a half years after he pleaded guilty to charges of fraud, money laundering and cheating the taxman.

All the charges were connected to Embassy Wine UK Ltd, where Piper was owner and sole director. After cheating wine investors out of £300,000, he tried to dissolve the company without warning its many creditors, but was blocked by investigators from the Insolvency Service and Revenue & Customs.

The Daily Mail reported at the time that much of Piper’s loot was splashed out on luxury cars and hundreds of pairs of limited edition trainers. Piper was banned until 2026 from acting as a company director and being involved in promoting, forming or managing a company. Acting as a director while disqualified is a criminal offence.

And so to Mr Sullivan, who figures prominently in a Yield Gallery feature on the Financial Times website. Described as the gallery’s creative director, he says: ‘More than ever, we have seen a huge attraction to the art market, especially from savvy investors looking to diversify and lower the risk of their portfolios.’

Sullivan adds: ‘With our expertise, we are able to advise, educate and help inspire new collectors and art enthusiasts seeking financial security.’

Now, despite the job title, Sullivan is not a director of Yield Gallery. But he is a director of two other companies – or rather, he was a director until The Mail on Sunday began this investigation and questioned him.

In November last year, he formed YG Group Holdings Ltd, with himself as owner and director. He described it as a retail art sales business. And in May this year, he and a family member formed Jerry Peggy Ltd, a financial intermediary. Again, Sullivan was named as a director. When he learned of this investigation, Sullivan resigned both directorships.

Of course, all this only matters if Piper and Sullivan are one and the same. Pictures of the pair certainly look alike. But placing the identification beyond doubt are separate records showing that both Piper and Sullivan were born on the same day in 1986, and both have used the same home address in Wanstead in East London.

I contacted Sullivan at Yield Gallery and told him he had been recognised as Piper of Embassy Wine UK. Sullivan’s lawyer told me: ‘He accepts he is the person you have referred to as Jonothan Piper, and under that name he was convicted of certain offences, paid the penalty, and was disqualified as a director in 2015. The disqualification ends in 2026.’

He added that Sullivan ‘was in error in thinking there was a difference in being named as a director on the one hand, and operating a company as one’.

His lawyer emphasised Sullivan changed his name legally and had been completely honest with Yield Gallery, which decided he warranted a chance to rebuild his life after prison. And this did not come as a surprise. I had already found the gallery employs Anthony Allen, another disqualified director.

Allen, now a salesman at the gallery, was banned by the High Court in 2016 from holding any directorship for the next 15 years. This followed an investigation by the Insolvency Service into his company Global Neutral Ltd, which marketed investments in carbon credits.

Through its lawyer, Yield Gallery confirmed Allen – like Sullivan – does work there, but said: ‘Yield Gallery is a legitimate trading company, with physical premises.’

Neither Allen nor Sullivan has any controlling role, the lawyer added.

Strong words that now look empty…

When Department for Business investigators looked into Embassy Wine UK and its owner Jonothan Piper – as he was named then – the agency did not beat about the bush.

Piper had failed to cooperate with investigators and lied to them on key matters such as his company’s banking details, and it announced that ‘the self-professed fine-wine broker had not traded legitimately at all and had set up the company simply to con investors out of approximately £300,000’.

The Insolvency Service – which checks on offending company bosses – explained: ‘He cannot promote, manage, or be a director of a limited company until 2026.’

Strong words. But when The Mail on Sunday contacted the Insolvency Service about Piper’s new name and company directorships, the response was far weaker. Officials said they had no ‘documentary evidence’ that Piper breached the ban, though public records at Companies House clearly show it.

Told Sullivan had admitted he is the same person as Piper, and had admitted setting up companies with himself as director while supposedly being disqualified, the Insolvency Service backtracked, saying it would review its decision. As things stand though, the strong words used several years ago look empty. And being disqualified as a company director does not seem to mean that an offender really is disqualified at all.

If you believe you are the victim of financial wrongdoing, write to Tony Hetherington at Financial Mail, 9 Derry Street, London W8 5HY or email [email protected]. Because of the high volume of enquiries, personal replies cannot be given. Please send only copies of original documents, which we regret cannot be returned.