Mr Jones has been added as the tenth defendant in the claim being brought by the joint liquidators of Hurel Ltd, the name adopted by RG Falla shortly before the Garenne Group collapsed and was placed into liquidation in March 2023.
Several changes have been made to the court defence documents drawn up on behalf of the other nine defendants in the action, suggesting that Mr Jones acted without the knowledge of the company’s board in making certain key decisions.
The liquidator is seeking £3.8m. from them jointly in relation to their actions in the lead up to the collapse of the group.
Mr Jones was already referred to in the original papers filed by the liquidators as a director and executive officer in a number of companies within the Garenne Group, including as chief financial officer of Garenne Group Ltd, and a director of the group and Garenne Construction Group Ltd.
He acted as company secretary of RG Falla/Hurel from 2018 until its liquidation.
Among the alleged breaches of duty by Mr Jones was that he failed to keep the board apprised of RG Falla’s financial affairs, including the risks to its solvency, and the various debts, obligations and commitments he had authorised on its behalf, and that in this he breached best interests duty, creditor duty and the duty of care.
One of the specific allegations against the nine original defendants was that they either entered into loan facility agreements provided by NatWest, including one with a limit of £9m., or allowed the company to enter into these, without consideration of its best interests and without exercising sufficient oversight over them.
An addition to this sentence in the defences suggests that, alternatively, Mr Jones acted in breach of duty by causing the company to enter into this without the authority of the board or without informing them of it.
In a statement, the joint liquidators said that they were granted permission to amend their cause in a consent order made by the Ordinary Division of the Royal Court on 6 March.
‘Richard Jones has been joined to the proceedings as a tenth defendant as a result of allegations made by certain defendants that he negotiated and executed a number of agreements purportedly on behalf of the board of what was RG Falla Ltd without their knowledge or involvement, and that he caused R G Falla Ltd to enter into financial agreements without the authority of the board,’ it said.
Joint liquidator Leonard Gerber said that these were ‘very serious allegations by certain defendants [which] gave rise to profound concerns that remain under investigation’.
‘The joint liquidators remain fully committed to seeking compensation for the benefit of the many creditors of R G Falla.’
Mr Jones is said to have given no alternative explanation for this or other matters raised by the additions to the defences, despite them being put to his advocates by the liquidators’ advocates.
He has until the end of this week to file his own defences.
The other defendants are Paul Mason, Michael Wagstaff, Dean Winsall, Julien Winser, Richard Lee, Ian Carre, Sarah-Jayne Brewin, Mark Palfrey and Stuart Falla, all previously involved with the Garenne Group of companies.