Four charged with fraud in connection with Patisserie Valerie collapse
Four individuals have been charged by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) in connection with the collapse of bakery chain Patisserie Valerie.
The SFO has brought fraud charges against former director and chief financial officer, Christopher Marsh, along with his wife, accountant Louise Marsh. Financial controller Pritesh Mistry and financial consultant Nileshkumar Lad have also been charged.
The SFO had opened a full investigation into the conduct, codenamed “Operation Venom”, in October 2018, just two days after the company abruptly suspended trading, leading to the closure of 70 sites at the cost of some 900 jobs.
All four suspects have been charged with conspiring to inflate the cash in Patisserie Valerie’s balance sheets and annual reports between 2015 and 2018, including by providing false documentation to its auditors.
During this period, the company also reported holding £28 million in accounts, yet the SFO said it had concealed £10 million in debts from its investors and creditors.
The defendants have been summoned to Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 10th October 2023 to hear the charges against them.
Lisa Osofsky, director of the SFO, said: “Patisserie Valerie’s abrupt collapse rocked our high streets – leaving boarded-up shops, devastating job losses and significant investor losses in its wake. Today is a step forward in getting to the bottom of this scandal.”
The first Patisserie Valerie opened in Soho in 1926, before the company aggressively expanded in 2006 and took the total number of its outlets to over 200 in 2018.
In 2019, the chain collapsed into administration after it was unable to extend its bank facilities amid the fraud allegations.