An MP is demanding a Government agency change its rules on how people are listed as being part of a company after her details were fraudulently used.
Tatton MP Esther McVey has been listed as a secretary of the Loyal Scots Company Limited on the Companies House registrar. The application was made electronically, meaning no signature was needed.
Now Ms McVey is urging the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to overhaul the register and only allow companies to be listed if signatures from all parties are obtained, after reporting the matter to Cheshire Police.
She said: “The fact you can make applications electronically without signatures is deeply concerning as it is open to abuse and fraud. Despite it seemingly being easy to list someone as a member of the company without their knowledge or consent it is extremely difficult to get the details removed as I am now finding out.
After contacting Companies House Ms McVey was told the only option available to her was to have the entry taken off the register. They were unable to remove her from the listing despite being told the entry was fraudulent.
A letter will be sent out to the Directors listed under the Loyal Scots entry stating Ms McVey wants to be taken off the register. The company have a certain amount of time to object and if so the entry will remain unless legal action is taken. If the company do not object the entry will be removed.
Ms McVey said: “It is bad enough we have a system in place where people can be added to a company without their knowledge and consent but to then tell that person they have no control over whether their details are removed is complete nonsense. Why should people have to take legal action to get removed from something they never did in the first place? I want to see a change in how companies are registered and for it to be a legal requirement that signatures are obtained from all parties. There should be checks made prior to a business being registered.
“Companies House does not appear interested in the veracity or otherwise of the information it holds and seems to have no compliance activity. This is a blatant flaw within the Companies House online system and needs urgently addressing. While I understand that e-filing makes life a lot simpler, it is vital they have procedures in place to establish the accuracy of the filing when no signature is required from a person being reported as being appointed or resigning as a director.”
Companies House is an executive Government agency and registers company information and make it available to the public.
Ms McVey has written to Business Secretary Greg Clarke setting out her concerns.
