The Serious Fraud Office has been handed a dossier of evidence by Goals Soccer Centres and asked to investigate suspected fraud by former employees, according to media reports.
The five-a-side football operator in March revealed it had found major accounting errors, leading to a £12mln VAT liability and the company being put up for sale.
READ: Mike Ashley-backed Goals Soccer Centres shares suspended due to historical accounting error
Earlier this month, Goals was delisted after being unable to file its accounts, admitting unpaid taxes might be “materially higher” than it originally thought.
An investigation carried out by forensic accountants at BDO, examining the activities of former chief executive Keith Rogers and finance director Bill Gow, found “substantial destruction” of electronic records.
Goals current board of directors has now asked the SFO to step in, Sky News reported overnight, with information handed over in the past 10 days.
Sports Direct International Plc (LON:SPD) boss Mike Ashley, who dropped his 5p per share bid for Goals last week and accused the current board of “skulduggery”, remained unimpressed.
“Far too little far too late,” Ashley said in a brief statement on Tuesday morning, adding that it was “a deliberate case of closing the stable door well after the horse has bolted”.
Last week Ashley said Sports Direct, which owns a 19% stake in Goals, was unable to complete the due diligence after only “limited and fitful access and cooperation” was given by the Goals board, adding that he believed “it would be convenient for those concerned if Goals, and its corporate history, disappeared as a result of the [sale] process”.
“From the beginning, the attitude of the Goals board made no sense, including proclamations to senior management of Sports Direct that the issues impacting on, and leading to the catastrophic failure of, the business had only been perpetuated by one person,” Ashley said then,