Two related companies that provided freight forwarding services, arranging shipping primarily to Zimbabwe, have been wound up in the public interest following an investigation by Companies Investigation Branch (CIB) of the Insolvency Service.

The companies were based in Northampton and the investigation revealed that neither company has any assets and owe ship owners nearly £150,000. No proper accounts were kept and the companies' business was abandoned by the directors in February 2007 owing other known creditors around £7,000. Because of the chaotic management of the business the full extent of the liabilities is unknown.

GlobalTrade1Stop Limited was the successor company to Protea (Europe) Limited. A website intended to bring buyers and sellers of commodities together was unsuccessful and its affairs soon became inextricably linked with the freight forwarding business carried on by Protea from the same premises.

Latterly a fish importation business was operated instead by the company, again unsuccessfully, that falsely claimed to have a processing plant in Sri Lanka, its own fishing vessels in Sri Lanka and to have operated for 10 years and have an EU license.

According to Mrs Maria Appuhamy (the wife of Protea's sole director Mr Wendhamuni Appuhamy) who acted in the management of both companies throughout, customers had collected their goods from warehouses in Zimbabwe, but afterwards could not be traced and the companies consequently were unable to collect some £200,000 owed.

In ordering the companies into liquidation Mr Registrar Nicholls agreed with the investigator's findings, namely that both companies were inextricably linked and had been operated with a lack of commercial probity. Also there were inadequate financial

and other records, a lack of proper control, and in the case of Globaltrade1Stop Limited, hopelessly insolvent. He commented that the evidence obtained was considerable and that "cargo included goods Protea had been paid for. In other words GlobalTrade1Stop had been used when credit had been exhausted and expired".

PROTEA (EUROPE) LIMITED was incorporated on 9 May 2005. The registered office of the company since 10 January 2007 has been 27 Lyveden Road, Brackmills Industrial Estate, Northampton, NN4 7ED. The company's sole recorded director throughout has been Mr Wendhamuni Appuhamy. The secretary throughout has been Aldbury Secretaries Limited.

GLOBALTRADE1STOP LIMITED was incorporated on 4 October 2005. The registered office of the company since 29 November 2006 has been c/o Aldbury Associates, Mobbs Miller House, and Ardington Road, Northampton, NN1 5LP. The sole recorded director of the company since 1 November 2006 has been Mr Jasenthu Lal Liyange. The secretary since 20 November 2006 has been Aldbury Secretaries Limited.

The companies were ordered into liquidation on 7 May 2008.


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