Dominic Chappell is to be prosecuted by The Pensions Regulator for failing to provide information for an investigation into the sale of BHS.
Chappell runs Retail Acquisitions, the company that acquired BHS for £1 from billionaire Sir Philip Green in March 2015.
BHS then plunged into administration just 13 months later in April last year, impacting 11,000 jobs and around 19,000 pension holders, thanks to a £571 million pension deficit.
The ensuing scandal saw Chappell, Green — whose Arcadia Group retail empire had owned BHS for 15 years before offloading it — and various City heavyweights dragged before MPs during a parliamentary inquiry in to the demise of the department store chain and its pensions black hole.
The Pensions Regulator is now prosecuting Chappell for failing to comply with three notices issued under Section 72 of the Pensions Act 2004.
READ MORE: BHS liquidators launch legal battle against Sir Philip Green‘s Arcadia Group
The regulator said notices were issued to Chappell on April 26 and May 13 last year and February 20 this year.
Chappell has been summonsed to appear at Brighton Magistrates’ Court on September 20 to face three charges of neglecting or refusing to provide information and documents without a reasonable excuse.
The news come after The Pensions Regulator recently pledged to flex its muscles, saying in July that it “will not hesitate” to prosecute companies or individuals if they refused to hand over information.
The parliamentary inquiry and drawn out public battle over BHS’s demise led to Green agreeing to pay £363 million to settle his share of BHS pension deficit in February.
Under Chappell’s tenure, £8.4 million was taken out of BHS by Retail Acquisitions, with £6 million still owed when it collapsed last year.
Retail Acquisitions was put into liquidation in May although Chappell, a former bankrupt, said at the time he would challenge the court ruling.
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