The former accountant for the 1970s ‘prog rock’ band Deep Purple has been banned from being a director for 11 years for misappropriating company funds of at least £2m
London-based Dipak Rao was the former director of Deep Purple (Overseas) Ltd (DPO) and HEC Enterprises Ltd (HEC), both of which were companies responsible for managing artists’ copyrights. He resigned as a director from both companies on 24 November 2014, and they went into administration on 19 January 2016.
An investigation by the Insolvency Service found that Rao had made numerous payments from the company accounts to his personal accounts between 2008 and 2014.
Rao concealed what he had done by ensuring that the transactions did not appear in the financial accounts and by restricting access to the companies’ bank statements.
Sue Macleod, chief investigator at the Insolvency Service, said: ‘Rao misappropriated company funds, causing detriment to the company and its creditors, to his own personal benefit.
‘Company directors should note from this enforcement result that actions of this kind will lead to serious censure.’
Report by Pat Sweet
