Suspected cryptocurrency scam company shut down

The business was wound up by the High Court in the public interest, and the official receiver has been appointed liquidator of the companies. It comes after an Insolvency Service investigation found that Micasa had seen around £1.3m pass through its accounts from February 2019 - when it started operating - until December 2020.

It was identified as potentially involved in a cryptocurrency scam - although the lack of accounting records meant it was not possible to verify whether its business was legitimate trading activity. 

Investigators did identify it had secured a £50,000 BBL, although there was also no evidence the company was eligible under the scheme rules. 

Nearly all of this was transferred to Remultex, which appears to have started operating in December 2019. This business also received its own BBL of £30,000 - although it was similarly not possible for investigators to confirm that the company was entitled to the BBL.  

In addition to the BBL funds received from Micasa, Remultex received payments from three other companies - totalling nearly £250,000 to December 2020. Almost all of this was withdrawn from the business in cash. 

Given both the companies traded with a lack of commercial probity and had taken public money to which they may not have been entitled, Judge Woodward sitting in the High Court in Manchester agreed that closing down the companies was in the public interest. 

Responding to this news, Insolvency Service chief investigator David Hope, said: “These companies failed to operate in a transparent fashion and failed to maintain proper accounting records.

“There is no evidence they were entitled to taxpayers’ money through the Bounce Back Loan scheme, and it is probable that Micasa was funnelling funds as part of a cryptocurrency scam.”