The company director of a shooting sports centre in St Leonards, East Sussex, is to be prosecuted for allegedly fraudulently evading his duty to pay employee pensions contributions.
Lee Bartholomew, 44, of Lockside, Tonbridge, Kent, is accused of fraudulently deducting money from the salaries of employees of 1066 Target Sports Ltd as contributions towards the company’s occupational pension scheme, and not paying it to the schemes within a prescribed period. The prosecution is being brought by The Pensions Regulator.
Mr Bartholomew is also charged with failure to provide information requested under Sections 72 and 77 of the Pensions Act 2004.
He has been summoned to appear at Brighton Magistrates' Court on 24 March 2023.
Update: the hearing on 24 March was adjourned and a new date was fixed for 4 May 2023 at Brighton Magistrates' Court.
Notes to editors
- Under Section 49(8) Pensions Act 1995, employers who deduct pension contributions from employees are under a duty to pay those contributions to a pension scheme within a prescribed period. As set out in Section 49 (11) Pensions Act 1995, it is a criminal offence to fraudulently evade that duty.
- Under Section 72 of the Pensions Act 2004, The Pensions Regulator has the power to compel information from individuals and corporates by issuing a Section 72 notice. A failure to comply with a Section 72 notice without reasonable excuse is a summary offence under Section 77 of the Pensions Act 2004.
- The Pensions Regulator is the regulator of work-based pension schemes in the UK. Our statutory objectives are: to protect members’ benefits; to reduce the risk of calls on the Pension Protection Fund (PPF); to promote, and to improve understanding of, the good administration of work-based pension schemes; to maximise employer compliance with automatic enrolment duties; and to minimise any adverse impact on the sustainable growth of an employer (in relation to the exercise of the regulator’s functions under Part 3 of the Pensions Act 2004 only).
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