LET’S start with a positive because things will go downhill a bit later on.
My two friends David Knaggs and Richard Larking, who are currently rowing across the Atlantic, saw their boat capsize twice yesterday with David thrown overboard in a violent storm.
Why is that a positive?
Well they are both alive, and incredibly, still rowing.
In the dead of night in the pitch black, David was on the oars doing his stint rowing in heavy seas while Richard was sleeping during one of their two-hour rest breaks.
Suddenly there was a flash of lightning, the boat rolled over twice throwing David and every piece of equipment on deck into the sea.
In the cabin, Richard said he awoke to a blinding flash of light and then spun around the cabin like he was in a washing machine.
Fortunately David was connected to the boat by a safety line so Richard was able to rescue him, but for a man who has served in the Royal Navy, Richard said it was one of the most frightening experiences he has ever had.
Despite being dogged by equipment failings and stormy seas since they set off on their journey of a lifetime, the two lawyers who met on the golf course and have called themselves Greens 2 Blue, have made steady progress and are now just 371 nautical miles from the finish line in Antigua.
Greens 2 Blue and their boat Brizo, whose headline sponsor is national financial advisory and insolvency firm Begbies Traynor, sit in 33rd place out of 43 teams in The World’s Toughest Row and are predicted to complete the race next week, 46 days after they set off from La Gomera in the Canary Islands in December.
Given the logo of my crisis communications and reputation management business Calm Storm Advisory is on the side of the boat, I’m hoping that now they have experienced the storm, David and Richard deserve plenty of calm.
Given other teams have had encounters with a whale and three Orcas, David and Richard would probably swap the storm for killer whales.
The only wildlife they have seen so far is a seabird who flew alongside them.
They said it was a seagull but from my deep knowledge of ornithology, I would suggest it was a tern.
I didn’t spend years in the RSPB’s Young Ornithologists’ Club (Derby Branch) for nothing, you know.
Keep going boys, we’re proud of you!
:::
I HAVE always wondered if the fact I have never been sued during a long career in journalism should be a source of pride, shame or just plain disappointment.
I’ve worked and known plenty of journalists who cherish the number of legal letters they have received like battle honours.
After my early years as a news reporter on local newspapers I went down the route of regional business journalism, recognising that my skills didn’t lie in the edgy, foot-in-the-door world of investigative journalism.
What skills you ask?
Well, the ability to build relationships over long business lunches for one.
As for others, I’ll have to get back to you on that.
But perhaps I do have a final flourish in me when it comes to journalism given I understand one of my blogs will soon be the subject of an investigation by government authorities.
The blog in question was published in 2021 and was about a Yorkshire businessman who had been banned as a director after obtaining £150,000 in Covid-19 Bounce Back Loans for three companies which had never traded and then put all of them into voluntary liquidation three months later.
After receiving the loans for the three companies which were registered to a residential address in Rotherham, Munheef Ihsan withdrew £24,000 and transferred the remainder of the money to companies controlled by a friend who bought a £16,000 Rolex watch, withdrew cash and moved the rest of the money elsewhere before putting his own company into liquidation.
Ihsan was banned as a director for 13 years – the longest ban the Insolvency Service can issue is 15 years – and his friend Mahir Towid Ul Haque accepted a six year ban as a company director.
I reported the comments of the chief investigator for the Insolvency Service who said it had “sent out a clear message that where a company is being used to facilitate fraudulent activity, action will be taken to remove the directors from the corporate arena for a lengthy period of time”.
I opined in the blog that banning somebody as a director is the legal equivalent of a slap on the wrist.
I’ve seen enough dodgy dealers banned as directors who carry on with their murky business regardless, just behind a convenient stooge as a front for a new company.
The ease with which Bounce Back Loans could be secured as part of the Government’s business support measures during the coronavirus pandemic meant that this case was not an isolated one.
I pointed out that if the only sanction for those who misused the money obtained is being banned as a director, plenty of these loans won’t end up getting repaid.
As someone who took out a Bounce Back Loan to keep my business afloat during Covid – and who continues to repay it every month – the way that the system was abused by some unscrupulous operators sticks in the craw.
And then for one of them to threaten to report me for what I wrote really gets my goat.
Four years after I wrote the original blog, just after 8.30am on Christmas Day, I received an email from Munheef Ihsan requesting a correction or removal of the article about him.
He said that the blog “includes wording that could reasonably be interpreted as implying criminal conduct”.
He went on: “I would like to clarify the factual position:
“In 2021, I entered into a civil director disqualification undertaking related to certain company directorship matters.
“I have never been charged with, nor convicted of, any criminal offence, including any offence relating to Covid-19 Bounce Back Loans.
“The manner in which the blog currently refers to me does not make clear that no criminal charges were brought and no conviction was ever made. As a result, the content is inaccurate, misleading, and continues to cause serious harm to my reputation.”
He asked for a response within 14 days.
I didn’t reply, mainly because it was Christmas, and so two weeks later I got another email from Munheef Ihsan, but this time the language was different.
Rather than requesting me to take the blog down, this time he threatened me with what would happen if I didn’t.
In an email headed: “FINAL NOTICE – Unlawful Processing of Inaccurate Personal Data (UK GDPR Article 5(1)(d)) he accused me of “unlawful and inaccurate content”.
The reasons he gave were that he has never been charged with or convicted of any criminal offence, a civil director disqualification is not an admission of guilt, a subsequent criminal investigation later conducted did not result in charges and the original Insolvency Service press release about the case has “been withdrawn”.
He added: “Your blog goes beyond reporting and includes personal opinion and commentary (including moral judgement), which further aggravates the inaccuracy and harm caused.”
Pointing out that he would have a right to compensation for damage and distress, he demanded the blog be removed within seven days or he would report it to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
Despite all these threats, the thing that bothered me the most was that he suggested that COPA Group ”is a commercial insolvency firm”.
I tell you, if I was an insolvency professional I’d be driving a Bentley and spending January in Barbados, rather than sitting in my tracksuit typing this stuff on my laptop on a Friday morning.
He went on to add: “This content is published as a corporate blog for branding and thought-leadership purposes. It does not qualify for the ‘special purposes of journalism’ exemption under the Data Protection Act 2018.”
If I had some thoughts I’d be a great leader, a beautiful leader, perhaps the greatest leader the free world has ever seen…sorry I’ve been watching too much of Donald Trump at Davos.
Anyway, if I wanted an easy life I could simply have taken the blog down.
But I didn’t like the tone of Munheef Ihsan’s email on top of the fact that I definitely didn’t agree with what he was accusing me of.
So I replied.
I wrote: Can I firstly clarify that COPA is not a commercial insolvency firm, it is a communications and events business and I am a journalist with more than 30 years experience, principally in business journalism.
I object to the threatening tone of your latest email. I have read nothing in it that suggests I need to remove the blog that you have referenced.
However I will happily remove the blog if you can confirm the following:
1. You are still serving a 13 year disqualification as a company director?
2. Provide evidence that the three Bounce Back Loans it refers to have been repaid or are in the process of being repaid.
3. Provide evidence from the Insolvency Service that the original press release they issued was incorrect.
I see that the story about your ban is still being run by other news organisations, including the BBC, The Times and The Yorkshire Post.
His reply didn’t include any answers to my questions but highlighted the fact that he has never been convicted of fraud.
That’s true, but he accepted a 13-year ban as a company director because he fraudulently claimed Government loans.
I’m sure the relevant authorities decided not to pursue criminal charges against him because the time and cost would be exorbitant compared to the chances of the money being repaid.
And if the Government pursued everyone who exploited the system during Covid then the already lengthy backlog of criminal court cases would be even longer.
So he has now referred this matter to the Information Commissioner’s Office.
Recounting this mini-saga here in this blog has been quite therapeutic.
And it also means that Mr Ihsan now has another article to complain about to the ICO.
Have a great weekend.