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Dominic Chappell outside Hove crown court
Dominic Chappell was convicted earlier this year of failing to hand over documents to the pensions watchdog and ordered to pay a £50,000 fine and £37,000 court costs. Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA
Dominic Chappell was convicted earlier this year of failing to hand over documents to the pensions watchdog and ordered to pay a £50,000 fine and £37,000 court costs. Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA

Ex-BHS owner Dominic Chappell loses appeal against conviction

This article is more than 5 years old

Judge says evidence submitted by Chappell was ‘untrue’ and without credibility

A judge has branded the former BHS owner Dominic Chappell “evasive” and “entirely unbelievable” as his appeal against his failure to hand over vital documents to the pensions watchdog was rejected on Friday.

Chappell, 51, showed no emotion as a judge dismissed his claims that he had “done everything in his powers” to help provide the information.

The entrepreneur, as he describes himself, was convicted of failing to hand over documents to the Pensions Regulator (TPR) and ordered to pay a £50,000 fine and £37,000 court costs.

Chappell, who had no retail experience, bought BHS from the billionaire Sir Philip Green for only £1 in March 2015. The company crashed in April 2016 with the loss of 11,000 jobs, leaving a pensions black hole of more than £500m.

TPR, which has a responsibility to safeguard pensions, immediately moved to protect the pensions of 19,000 members and made three requests for information under section 72.

When Chappell failed to comply he was charged with three counts of neglecting or refusing to provide documents contrary to the Pensions Act 2004 and, after a trial in January, he was found guilty and fined.

Judge Christine Henson QC, in rejecting his appeal against the decision, said evidence put forward by Chappell was “untrue” and not “at all credible”.

She said the former BHS owner had also been “evasive about his business dealings” and had avoided answering questions.

Henson said: “We found his evidence entirely unbelievable on what he described as his inability to access any of the relevant documents and information.”

During the appeal against the conviction at Hove crown court, Chappell claimed the demands for thousands of documents by the regulator were unreasonable as he was struggling under an immense workload.

He told the court: “I was drowning in paperwork and dealing with five other government departments and two sets of administrators, and 11,500 people were employed by me. I had some major challenges.”

Chappell, who lives in Blandford Forum, Dorset, said he went “above and beyond” in his efforts to help provide details of the section 72s to TPR.

He also complained he had been locked out of the BHS offices and had no access to the documents.

Alex Stein, speaking on behalf of TPR, compared Chappell with a character from The Wizard of Oz, saying he had put on a “spectacular show” but what emerged from behind the curtain was a “rather pathetic and dishonest figure.”

Henson ruled: “In giving evidence before us, Mr Chappell consistently tried to avoid answering the question asked by giving answers to something quite different as well as being evasive about his business dealings.

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“We have concluded that the majority of answers given by the appellant were not credible. He had not provided any reliable evidence to support any of the reasons he says provide him with a reasonable excuse.”

Michael Levy, for Chappell, said bankruptcy was “looming” again for the three-times bankrupt former owner of BHS.

Henson adjourned the resentencing until Chappell was able to submit details of his income and financial circumstances.

Chappell said he would be appealing against the judgment and added he could not comment further until after sentencing.

A TPR spokesman said: “We are pleased that the court has confirmed that Dominic Chappell was wrong when he failed to provide us with information we required as part of our BHS investigation.”

More on this story

More on this story

  • Fifth of BHS stores empty five years after chain closed

  • Former Arcadia staff pursue compensation over redundancies

  • BHS buyer Dominic Chappell given six years for tax evasion

  • Former BHS owner ordered to pay £9.5m to pension schemes

  • Former BHS owner Dominic Chappell banned as director

  • BHS collapse: ex-owner was victim of political pressure, court hears

  • Watchdog berates PwC over 'misleading' BHS accounts

  • Sir Philip Green launches legal bid to gag BHS-related report

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