Proceedings have been brought against two former directors and a former employee of Alfred McAlpine Slate Ltd ("Welsh Slate"), a subsidiary of Alfred McAlpine plc.
Following a joint investigation by the Serious Fraud Office and North Wales Police, the following persons have this week been charged with fraudulent trading. They are to appear before Caernarfon Magistrates' Court on 12 November 2008.
- Christopher John Law (born 05/12/55), former managing director of Welsh Slate
- Paul Michael Harvey (born 22/04/57), former sales director of Welsh Slate (not a statutory director)
- Geraint Roberts (born 27/10/51), former operations director for the roofing division of Welsh Slate
The charge is that between 1 January 2004 and 26 February 2007 they, together and with others, were knowingly parties to the carrying on of the business of Welsh Slate for a fraudulent purpose in that they misrepresented to Alfred McAlpine plc the amount of sales achieved by Welsh Slate, contrary to s.458 of the Companies Act 1985.
Christopher Law alone is also charged with two additional offences, namely forgery contrary to s.1 of the Forgery and Counterfeiting Act 1981 and fraud by false representation contrary to s.1 of the Fraud Act 2006.
Alfred McAlpine plc reported to the stock market on 26 February 2007 that its internal audit team had uncovered a systematic misrepresentation of production volumes and sales for a number of years by senior managers at Welsh Slate which would lead to a restatement of the 2005 net assets and a reduction in the expected pre-tax profits for 2006.
A joint investigation commenced in September 2007 following a referral to the SFO by North Wales Police.
