Donald Ernest Roberts from Plymouth was involved with three companies that become insolvent.

He admitted at Plymouth Crown Court to installing his daughter as a dummy director of Roads and Drives Resurfacing Limited (RDRL), while he ran the firm in contravention of a previous company director disqualification order.

In September 2010 the court handed Roberts a six-month prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, and ordered him to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work in respect of the breach of his undertaking.

Last week the same court made a confiscation order of £30,000 and gave Roberts six months to pay or he would incur a 15-month prison sentence in default.

Roberts was disqualified as a director in 2007 for a period of four years. This followed the liquidation of R.D. Surfacing Ltd in November 2005 with debts of approximately £123,306.

The court heard that RDRL was incorporated in 2005 and entered into compulsory liquidation in 2009.

Roberts was shown as the company secretary and his daughter was listed as the company’s director throughout. At the time of its liquidation, the company had a deficiency of approximately £90,000.

In December 2009, Roberts signed a disqualification undertaking banning him from being involved in the management or promotion of any company for a period of 11 years.

Robert Burns, Head of Investigation and Enforcement at The Insolvency Service said: “The Insolvency Service takes firm enforcement action against those who breach the company director disqualification undertakings they accepted to protect the public and the business community from their corporate misconduct.

“The sentence handed to Mr Roberts sends a clear message; directors must abide by the restrictions imposed on them when signing an Undertaking or face the consequences, as Mr Roberts has found.”