Omni creditors put on hold

Creditors of defunct reseller Omni Solutions have found themselves pushed further down the ladder after it emerged that a debenture had been set up one month before its collapse.

The Slough network reseller and software developer plunged into administrative receivership on 3 August at the request of the factoring company Singer and Friedlander Factors. Receivers Poppleton and Appleby have been appointed.

Mike Penny, Omni managing director, revealed that the reseller owed about #350,000 to creditors.

However, less than one month before its collapse, a debenture had been granted on 16 July to Everstreet, a recruitment agency, according to a document filed at Companies House.

It was also revealed that Ismail Mustofa Ismail was listed at Companies House as secretary and joint shareholder of Everstreet. Ismail is an accountant at Ismail Sharp, auditor for Omni Solutions.

One industry source described the situation as 'very odd', adding there was the possibility of a 'conflict of interests'.

According to Ismail, the debenture was security against a loan of about #40,000 from Everstreet, to help Omni out of financial difficulties in June. He added: 'It would have been naive to lend money and not get a guarantee.'

It was understood that the channel creditors included ETC, Ideal Hardware and Computacenter, were owed about #100,000 in total.

Eddy Pacey, credit manager at Ideal Hardware, said: 'It is unusual to see a debenture so late in the day, prior to the fall of a company. I would suggest that creditors will question the validity of the charge.'

Penny said Omni was still trading under the receiver. He claimed there was a rescue plan in place, but refused to elaborate.

He was previously director of reseller Penny and Evans, which was wound up in 1993.