Vertu Motors’ Companies House records falsely amended

Companies House has confirmed it is investigating the malicious hacking of Vertu Motors’ official information.

A spokesman told AM that Companies House which is an executive agency of the Department for Business and Trade: “We are aware of this case and are working with the company to ascertain the facts.”

The publicly available records of Britain's third-largest car dealership Vertu Motors had been falsely amended to show that a number of directors had resigned from the company and fictional new board members ncluding a 'Mr Ice Crystal Augustus' had been appointed in their place.

The group, which is still attempting to correct the record, is seeking a court injunction to prevent any further changes and wants Companies House to explain how this was allowed to happen.

Vertu Motors made a statement to investors on Wednesday explaining that the records had been 'falsely amended by a malicious actor'.

The group said: 'The company confirms that none of the above changes have legally occurred, and that therefore the company's board of directors remains unchanged and is as listed on Vertu's investor relations website and as referenced in previous announcements.'

Among the directors said to have had their appointment terminated are chief financial officer Karen Anderson and chief operations officer David Crane.

Vertu Motors added: 'The company is in the process of liaising with Companies House to have the public record corrected, is seeking a court injunction to prevent any further changes being made to its public records by the malicious actor and is working with Companies House to establish how the malicious actor was able to access Companies House systems to make these changes.”

“Deliberately filing false information on the register is a serious offence and people who have been found to have knowingly done this can face prosecution. A person found guilty could face a fine or up to two years' imprisonment or both," said the Companies House spokesman.