Part 2: The Captain Tom Foundation Due Diligence

Simon DEMAID continued. Review of Companies House records and disclosure of interests.

In part 1, I reviewed the public records for Simon DEMAID, who is a director of the company called The Captain Tom Foundation and the Milton Keynes Business Leaders Partnership Limited. He has two identities registered in Companies House. The first identity that he established was Simon DE MAID and he is a current member of Howes Percival LLP. He uses various spellings of his name; deMaid, de Maid and De Maid, on the Howes Percival website. He has failed to disclose his interests in The Captain Tom Foundation and Milton Keynes Business Leaders Partnership Limited, held by his other identity in Companies House, on the Howes Percival legal website, when he is required to do so.

I allege that this is evidence of synthetic identity fraud. Simon DE MAID tricked the Companies House deduplication system, which links directorships to the same identity, by using a different spelling of his name, as DEMAID. As a result of this “false non-match error” he gained a second identity and has been able to conceal his interests in The Captain Tom Foundation and the Milton Keynes Business Leaders Partnership Limited. Multiple identities for a single person corrupts audits and due diligence because these directorships will not be taken into account when an auditor considers related parties transactions. It breaches Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Terrorism Financing Legislation and this puts the public at risk that he is involved in serious organised crime.

There are more angles to check for further breaches. Firstly, does the Captain Tom Foundation website disclose that Simon Demaid is a director? The answer is no. This website doesn’t even list its trustees, when it has an obligation to publish its directors and trustees on its official platform. I accessed the record for the charity at the Charities Commission, it reads:

THE CAPTAIN TOM FOUNDATION Charity number: 1189808

Regulatory alert Charity reporting is up to date (on time) 3 Trustee(s)

Name Role Date of appointment Other trusteeships Reporting status of other trusteeships

David Colin Ingram-Moore Trustee 01 February 2021 None on record

Stephen John Jones Trustee 05 May 2020 None on record

Simon David deMaid Trustee 05 May 2020 None on record

Simon Demaid has used a fourth spelling of his name, deMaid, to register as a trustee of the The Captain Tom Foundation Charity.

Does the Milton Keynes Business Leaders Partnership Limited website disclose that Simon DEMAID is a director? Yes, it does. His entry reads:

Simon DeMaid

MKBLP Role: Legal & Governance Director

Company: Howes Percival LLP

Job Title: Partner

Simon DeMaid is a Partner and Head of Office at Milton Keynes law firm, Howes Percival LLP.

DeMaid is the fifth variation of the spelling of his name, joining; Demaid, deMaid, de Maid and De Maid, which are written versions of DEMAID and DE MAID. Simon Demaid fails to disclose that he is a director of The Captain Tom Foundation on the Milton Keynes Business Leaders Partnership Limited official website. This is a breach of his legal obligations.

Checking the Full accounts made up to 30 April 2022 of Howes Percival LLP, further breaches are apparent. Simon DE MAID is not listed as a member in these financial statements. No external interests are registered. There are no related party transactions given and no subsidiaries listed. However, Howes Percival LLP is the person with significant control of HP SECRETARIAL SERVICES LIMITED, HP NOMINEES LIMITED and HP DIRECTORS LIMITED, which is not disclosed on Howes Percival’s website. HP Directors Limited is also registered as a corporate director with over 60 identities. I conclude that the website for Howes Percival LLP is neither transparent nor compliant with the law. I note that the audit statement was signed by Sarah Mason of RSM UK AUDIT LLP, The Pinnacle, 170 Midsummer Boulevard, Milton Keynes MK91BP. Due to time constraints, I have not checked the records for this company.

The Accounts for The Captain Tom Foundation made up to 31 May 2021 provide related party transactions as shown in this image:

There are no disclosures relating to Simon Demaid or Howes Percival LLP. If there have been any transactions between any of the companies within the control of any of the directors of The Captain Tom Foundation and Howes Percival LLP that have failed to be included in the statement above, then, this would be a very serious breach. However, I do not have access to the data that would confirm this, or prove it false. I will be looking out for any information relating to this as I progress with my due diligence analysis. I note that the auditor of these accounts is given as “Simon Atkins FCA, Cooper Parry Group Limited, Skyview, Argosy Road East Midlands Airport, Castle Donnington, Derby, Derbyshire, DE74 1SA.” Simon Atkins has failed to sign the Audit Statement with his name. This is a breach of the Companies Act, 2006.

The Captain Tom Foundation solicitors are “Higgs & Sons, 3 Waterfront Business Park, Brierley Hill, West Midlands, England, DY5 1LX”. Higgs & Sons Limited has two directors and a secretary who is a “corporate body” called Higgs Secretarial Limited, which has the same registered address as Higgs & Sons. Higgs Secretarial Limited is registered as a secretary of 93 companies of which are 75 active. The official company website of Higgs LLP, registered at the same address, fails to disclose that Higgs & Sons Limited is related party. The person with significant control of Higgs & Sons is Hison Holdings Limited, with the same address. Hison Holdings Limited is also not disclosed on the Higgs LLP website as a related party. I conclude that Higgs LLP fails to be transparent regarding its related parties/subsidiary undertakings on its official website. Higgs LLP accounts to November 2022 disclose that Hison Holdings Limited is a direct subsidiary undertaking and a non-trading holding company and that Higgs & Sons and Higgs Secretarial Limited as indirect subsidiary undertakings.

However, this states that Higgs & Sons Limited and Higgs Secretarial Limited are both dormant companies. This is evidence of dishonesty because Higgs Secretarial Limited is currently providing secretarial services to 75 companies, and Higgs & Sons Limited are the solicitors for The Captain Tom Foundation. Higgs & Sons Limited most recent accounts fail to disclose its relationships with the other Higgs companies. These legislative concerns, stemming from the intricate web of connected companies and non-disclosure of interests, underscore the pressing need for a comprehensive investigation into their compliance with relevant regulations, as they raise significant risks of financial irregularities, money laundering, and potential misuse of corporate structures for terrorism financing.

I note that the Higgs LLP’s audit report was signed by Martin Ramsey of MHA MacIntyre Hudson. This is a company I have reported for audit irregularities, relating to the East London Science School Trust, within my due diligence report on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, dated 17 April 2023.

Returning to consider the accounts of the last of three business interests held by Simon Demaid. The MILTON KEYNES BUSINESS LEADERS PARTNERSHIP LIMITED micro company accounts made up to 31 March 2022 claims entitlement to exemption from audit as a small business. The registered office address is “Howes Percival Llp 1st Floor, Bell House, Seebeck Place, Knowlhill, Milton Keynes, England, MK5 8FR”. The use of the Howes Percival address is evidence that there is a relationship between these two companies that might be described as a subsidiary and related party. This relationship is not disclosed by Howes Percival LLP in the accounts or on the website.

Herein, is evidence that Simon DEMAID/DE MAID has made false representations in Companies House in order to gain an additional identity which enables interests to be concealed. This has corrupted the audits of all of the businesses with which he and his codirectors are linked. The scale of his fraud will be known following a forensic audit.

In my next article I’ll be looking at the records for David Colin INGRAM-MOORE.