Former Torex Retail directors jailed for fraud

Edwin Dayan and Christopher Ford have both been sentenced to a prison term for their part in a £1.65m fraud

Two former Torex Retail directors have received jail sentences for their part in a £1.65m fraud.

Edwin Dayan and Christopher Ford were both given prison terms today for defrauding shareholders of the former AIM-listed software company.

The pair were directors at Torex subsidiary XN Checkout Ltd when they caused £1.65m in false profits to be recognised within the published accounts of Torex.

Both were found guilty on 19 January at Oxford Crown Court following a lengthy trial. Dayan was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment, disqualified from acting as a company director for four years and ordered to pay prosecution costs of £75,000.

Ford was sentenced to six months jail, suspended for two years, given a 200-hour community service order, disqualified from acting as a company director for two years and ordered to pay £2,000 prosecution costs.

Passing sentence, Judge (HHJ) Eccles QC, said: “Unless directors recognise they will go to prison, the temptation to manipulate accounts in hard times will be harder to resist. Such sentences may seem harsh on a personal level, but a strong deterrent is needed."

The judge also said he accepted it was not the prosecution's case that the dishonest actions of the two defendants caused the collapse of Torex Retail plc.

He also noted that the SFO investigation into the conduct of other individuals is ongoing.

Investigations are continuing into the wider collapse of Torex Retail, which is now in liquidation.

The company is entirely separate from Torex Retail Holdings Limited and its subsidiary companies, which are still trading.