Six-year ban for director in Allied Carpets scandal

Published on Monday 25 March 2002 00:00

THE finance director involved in an accounting scandal at Allied Carpets has been disqualified as a director for six years.

David Pout was found to have knowingly inflated sales figures in accounting records, in turn distorting profits, the DTI’s companies investigations branch said, which involved the early recognition of sales, dated from 1992 to 1998.

Mr Pout resigned from Allied in August 1998 a week before the company revealed the findings of an inquiry into the irregularities. Allied’s auditors calculated that sales in the year to June 1998 were overstated by 6 million, uplifting profits by some 2m.

Mr Pout became a director with Hays Personnel, a division of Hays plc, after leaving Allied. Hays, a FTSE 100 company, has stuck by Mr Pout and said he would be given a senior role with the same wage.

A spokesman there said: "He has carried out his work at Hays to the highest professional standards and with complete integrity."

The DTI’s announcement comes five months after Allied’s former managing director Raymond Nethercott was disqualified for seven years.

The investigation into both Mr Nethercott and Mr Pout began in December 2000.

The DTI today said Mr Pout had originally resisted its procedure before accepting the ruling seven days ago.

Disclosure of the irregularities surfaced following a tip-off from an Allied employee in 1998 and shares in the company were suspended for six weeks.

The DTI said Mr Pout, a certified accountant, now accepted he failed to prevent the accounting irregularities from December 1992 to 1998.

He also agreed he had lied to Allied’s auditors about his knowledge of and involvement in the early recognition of sales.