A government investigation delving into the failed accounts of UK dealer MG Rover has been extended because further financial questions have surfaced, reports The Times.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
According to the newspaper, Department of Trade and Industry investigators want details from directors’ wives and partners regarding finances and suspect offshore business bank accounts.
The Times said that the investigation will now extend to the wives and partners of the directors, including the wife of the former MG Rover chairman John Towers.
MG Rover has long been suspected of having had offshore bank accounts but the company has refused to comment on its financial affairs and MG Rover directors’ company Phoenix Venture Holdings was unaware that their partners were under scrutiny, according to The Times.
Liberal Democrats’ trade and industry spokesman Norman Lamb told the newspaper: “Given the seriousness of what has happened with the collapse of MG Rover and the public money involved, there would be a sense of betrayal if wrongdoing were uncovered. If wrongdoing is found it is important that appropriate action is taken.”
MG Rover collapsed under debts of GBP1.4bn last April, with most of its assets sold to China’s Nanjing Automobile Corporation.
