Mark King
, Broking Limited. They intended to go into business as partners in a cuff link company. No written contract exists, the agreement was oral. The company has never traded. As Mr King took so long to work upon a prototype Mrs Adams asked for a return of the money as it was needed for living expenses. At the date of the hearing all monies had been repaid by Mr King. At the time Ruth Adams transferred £60,000 to Mr King £90,000 remained of the proceeds of sale of Fallowfield, £30,000 remained after the investment. It was put to Ruth Adams that the rental monies paid by Ian Haart, the loan of £35,000 from Dale Golder, £10,000 from Brian Higgins, £10,000 from Susan Evans, £20,000 from an unnamed friend together with the £52,000 owed to Sterling Wholesalers Limited represented debts of £150,500. Asked how these were going to be repaid Mrs Adams said that she hoped that N1 Angel would be successful.
Brian Higgins
34.Brian Higgins is married to the sister of Terence Adams’s mother. He is Managing Director of a catering company. In his witness statement he says “I was aware that as a consequence of Court proceedings the bank accounts of Terence Adams and Ruth Adams had been frozen. When I was able to assist them by loaning Ruth Adams £30,000 I was happy to do so. I declined Ruth Adams’ offer to pay interest on the loan”. The loan was paid through Garstangs Solicitors on 9 January 2008. It was repaid through the same solicitors on 30 May 2008. In his witness statements he states: “I made a further loan of £10,000 to Ruth Adams again interest free which is still to be paid back. I will be able to supply details of the account which the funds were drawn from and the date of loan if required”. In his oral evidence Mr Higgins said he thought the £10,000 loan was made in 2012 but it could have been earlier. He knew the purpose of the first loan. He was not sure if the second loan was for decoration or legal fees. Mr Higgins said he took Ruth Adams’s word that he would get the money back, that was good enough for him. Mr Higgins was told that it was best to keep it away from Terence, he did his business with Ruth, he did not discuss the matter with Terence. As he has a successful catering business £10,000 did not bother Mr Higgins. Dale Golder35.Dale Golder made two witness statements dated 22 August 2013 and 10 December 2013. In the first short witness statement Dale Golder confirmed that he had paid Ruth Adams £16,630 for design work that he had commissioned her to undertake in 2012 and confirmed a loan to her of £35,000 in 2013. Ruth Adams is one of his wife’s closest friends, he has known her for about seven years. To his first statement he exhibited his bank statement which showed a debit of £35,000 to his account on 28 May 2013. It was his understanding that the funds were to be invested in Ruth Adams’s clothing company N 1 Angel Limited. Also exhibited was the agreement drawn up by his solicitors between Dale Golder and Ruth Adams detailing the loan which was signed by Dale Golder on 1 August 2013.In the statement Dale Golder described himself thus: “I am self employed working in the field of building and renovation.” The evidence of Dale Golder as set out in his first statement was investigated by an officer of the NCA. As a result of information provided by the NCA following the investigation Dale Golder made a second witness statement. The essence of the information obtained by the NCA was that Mr Golder is a partner in a firm known as JTD Sports Cars. One of his associates in the firm was Timothy Eastgate who has since been convicted of conspiracy to supply cocaine and a firearms offence and is serving a sentence of 23 years imprisonment. Many of the clients of the firm are known criminals; Darren Palmer, who is serving a sentence of imprisonment following a series of convictions for fraud; Paul Flisher, who is serving a sentence of 21 years imprisonment for similar offences to those of Timothy Eastgate. Jason Topsam is serving a sentence of 25 years for the same offence. The NCA also revealed that Dale Golder is currently on police bail regarding an investigation by the Devon and Cornwall constabulary in respect of money laundering. In his second witness statement Dale Golder stated that the company JTD Sports Cars is in his name. It was set up by him in or about 2007. He met Timothy Eastgate when he was carrying out cleaning work on his home, they became friends and Timothy Eastgate said he would like to become financially involved in the car business. He made a financial investment in 2007. The business of the company was to rent sports cars, it was successful until affected by the recession in mid 2008. In March 2009 Timothy Eastgate moved to Spain, on his return to the UK he was arrested in 2010. JTD Sports Cars continues to function as a small rental car business. It presently holds a Porsche 911 which is rented out to Michael Ellis of Sterling Wholesale for the forthcoming year. The rental took place in August 2013 shortly after Mr Golder had invested £35,000 in N1 Angel. Mr Golder said that he knew “Mickey” Ellis very well, he knew that Ruth Adams was working with his business. 36.Dale Golder met Jason Topsam who took an Aston Martin, a Bentley and a Shelby Mustang for rental. He paid for one month but has since not honoured payments. Paul Flisher rented cars over a period of two years from the company he is a childhood friend of Timothy Eastgate and was his partner in O2 Box. Dale Golder had never socialised with Paul Fisher. Darren Palmer rented cars from the company, and purchased many tickets from Timothy Eastgate at the O2. Dale Golder invested money in Darren Palmer’s business which has since been paid with interest. Dale Golder was aware of the criminal charges against him, he has lost all contact with Darren Palmer. Dale Golder emphasised the point that he has some 400 acquaintances who span a number of professions, only 1% are convicted criminals. Of the other persons identified by the NCA none of them are friends of Dale Golder he met them all through his car business. Dale Golder denied any involvement in any money laundering offences. 37.Dale Golder has worked hard all his life, he owns a company called Montana which has been trading for twenty years, he has always paid tax and VAT. The company employs five sub-contractors and they provide specialised cleaning services, tiling, high end decorating and landscaping. Dale Golder confirmed the evidence of Ruth Adams as to the nature and the extent of her involvement in his renovation project of five houses in 2012/2013. As to the invoice provided by Ruth Adams he said it is the same as anyone else provides in order to show what work has been done. As to N1 Angel and the agreement for the loan, Dale Golder instructed his solicitor to draw it up. He saw products provided by N1 Angel he liked the logo on the products and bought five or six jumpers which he subsequently sold to employees.
Susan Evans
38.Susan Evans made a witness statement dated 21 August 2013. Terence Adams is the cousin of her husband, she and Ruth Adams have been close friends for 25 to 30 years. On the sale of Fallowfield Susan Evans bought furniture from the home for which she paid Ruth Adams £10,000 in cash. In December 2012 Ruth Adams asked Susan Evans if she could lend her money to help her set up a clothing business. The loan in the sum of £10,000 was made, exhibited to her statement was a copy of a cheque stub dated 30 December 2012 in the sum of £10,000. In her oral evidence Mrs Evans said that the cash for the furniture was given to her by her husband who drew it from his business account. The money for the second payment of £10,000 was given to her by her husband. She made the payment to Ruth Adams by a cheque drawn on her own bank account. There is no agreement as to repayment, Susan Evans is not worried about this. Terence Adams played no part in any discussion regarding the loan.
Camilla Hicks
39.The statement of Camilla Hicks dated 27 August 2013 was before the court, the Crown accepted the truth of its content. Ruth Adams is described by Camilla Hicks as one of her best friends. In January 2011 Ruth Adams telephoned her from the Harley Street Clinic where she was to pay for treatment for her husband. Ruth Adams did not have a credit card with her, as a result Camilla Hicks arranged for payment to be made through two of her own credit cards and one of her mother. The total cost of the treatment was £7,500. Exhibited to Camilla Hick’s statement were copies of the receipts for the payments. Ruth Adams has repaid the money.
Carmel Tonna
40.The statement of Carmel Tonna was before the court, the Crown did not dispute the truth of the statement. In 2007 Carmel Tonna was approached by his sister Ruth Adams who asked if he would lend her money as she was in financial difficulties at a time when her husband was in custody. Carmel Tonna lent his sister £4000 which she has repaid in full.
Josephine Tonna
41.Josephine Tonna is the mother of Ruth Adams. In a short witness statement she confirms that in June 2012 she loaned her daughter £3000 to help her with living expenses when she was experiencing financial difficulties. The money was drawn from her Halifax account and she produced a copy of the relevant statement for the court. Mrs Tonna had been required by the Crown for cross-examination. During the hearing the court, and for the first time, the Crown were informed that Mrs Tonna would not be attending court. The reason given being her age, Mrs Tonna is in her 80’s and the fact that in May this year she underwent a surgical procedure. Documentation was produced which demonstrated that she had been in hospital in May 2014 but was discharged in that month. Beyond that no detail was provided as to why it was Mrs Tonna was unable to attend court.42.The Halifax statement exhibited to the witness statement of Mrs Tonna details an ISA Saver account. On 26 April 2012 the “statement opening balance” is £3974.58. On 20 June 2012 a payment out is recorded of £3000. On the same day a further payment out of £974.58 is also recorded. Save for the addition of interest on 5 April 2013 these are the only entries shown on the account. It was agreed between the applicant and the respondent that the statement of Mrs Tonna together with the exhibits could be placed before the court, the weight to be attached to them was a matter for the court. There is no evidence before the court as to the source of the monies originally placed in the account.
Mark King
43.Mark King is a self employed jeweller and the Managing Director of Broking Limited an online jewellery business. The company was incorporated in March 2011, Ruth Adams is the only investor, Mark King put no money of his own into the company. In September 2011 Ruth Adams transferred £60,000 into the Broking Limited account with Barclays. There are no documents relating to Ruth Adams’s agreement to invest in the company.44.The company appears to have done no business, no payments have been received, no transactions have taken place save for making what Mr King described as a “couple of transactions” to buy some “bits of gold”. The bank statement for Broking Limited shows a credit from Ruth Adams on 13 September 2011. On 27 September 2011 there is a cash withdrawal of £1000, Mark King said this was to buy gold. On 28 September 2011 there is a cash withdrawal of £6000, his evidence was that this was to buy diamonds. A further bank statement from the account for March 2012 contains one entry. On 2 March 2012 a transfer to Ruth Adams of £15000, the other entries are redacted. A later statement shows a transfer to Ruth Adams on 31 July 2013 in the sum of £10,000 the other entries are redacted. 45.The “Abbreviated Balance Sheet as at 31 March 2012” of Broking Limited noted as being “Approved by the Board on 30 April 2013” and signed by Mark King director identifies “Called up share capital” of £100. “Cash at bank and in hand” is £708. Net current assets (liabilities) are (£408). As at 30 April 2013 the balance of monies which Mark King had received from Ruth Adams would have been in the order of £42,000. He was asked why this amount was not shown on the abbreviated balance sheet. His answer was that this document was abbreviated because of pressure of time, had it not been submitted he would have faced a penalty. The document was prepared in the latter part of 2013, he gave his accountant bank statements, invoices and purchase receipts. He did not know where the figure of £700 for cash in the bank and in hand came from. The figures came from the accountant, she must have obtained them from the documents which he gave her.