ICSM Insolvency News: the plot thickens at Patisserie Valerie as four are charged with fraud linked to the 2019 collapse

By Harry Mottram: Something didn’t add up at Patisserie Valerie in early 2019 when the café chain went into administration said Ian Carrotte of ICSM. He said: “It didn’t make sense. A successful eatery with 70 outlets listed on the stock exchange – it gave the impression as a model business. However, we had a feeling something wasn’t right. And now we know. There was an issue with debt and the media are reporting that the Serious Fraud Office are investigating the firm with four up before the beak.”

The BBC’s business reporter Farea Musad noted this week: “Christopher Marsh, former director and chief financial officer of Patisserie Holdings - the company behind Patisserie Valerie - and his wife, accountant Louise Marsh, face charges.”

Charges have also been brought against Pritesh Mistry and financial consultant Nileshkumar Lad.  The Serious Fraud Office said that the four are charged with allegedly inflating the amount of cash the pastry shops had, and hiding debts of £10m and they will appear in court on 10 October. The accusations include providing false documentation to the company's auditors and giving the chain's investors and creditors false information. Those allegations helped to bring down the firm five years ago and led to their accountants getting a heavy fine for its failures in the case.

The administrators were able to sell some of the café chain outlets to Causeway Capital Partners who later merged the business with its Bakers and Baristas outfit and despite more closures the firm still has around 90 sites.

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