The chief accountant of Achilleas Kallakis’ Atlas Management quit the business after being convinced the firm was trading while insolvent, Southwark Crown Court heard this afternoon.
Kallakis and his business partner Alexander Williams are in court facing charges over an alleged £62m fraud against Allied Irish Banks and Bank of Scotland. The pair are pleading not guilty.
Rodney Rezler, who was appointed chief accountant at Atlas in April 2007, today told the court that he became concerned about the firm’s accounts management shortly after joining Atlas.
He said: “The payments position was catastrophic. We were constantly being bombarded by creditors ringing, saying where is my money. It became almost impossible to work owing to the deluge of calls and bills.”
Rezler claimed that he told Williams: “Because Atlas was not paying its bills on time, under normal circumstances, any creditor would think the company was in trouble. It was typical of a company about to go bankrupt.”
Rezler resigned in November 2008.
He added: “For quite some time I had been concerned the company was trading while insolvent. In the past we had been able, but not willing to pay bills on time, but now it seemed we were just unable.”
joanna.bourke@estatesgazette.com
