Return to main Advice page

Legal Eagle

Using the law

Q: Payments for bogus job offers

I answered an advertisement from a company offering theatrical services. Its notepaper included an address normally associated with a major producing house, but I was asked to send cheques to a box number. I have since discovered the company had no right to use the stated address and have received no response to my letters and cheque. What do you advise?

A: It sounds to me as if you have been the victim of fraud. The request for you to send cheques to a box number should have warned you that something might be amiss. It is possible, however, that there could be an innocent explanation. For example, the party concerned may genuinely have believed it had the right to use that address and it may still even now, intend to honour its obligation to you, whatever that may be. In case there is an innocent explanation, I would suggest you have a company search made in order to get details of the company, such as the address of its registered office and the names and addresses of its directors. You can then approach the directors personally and demand an explanation. However, they, may be nominees or even non-existent persons if the company has been formed as a vehicle for some fraudulent operation. There are many agencies which will make a search of the company file for you for a modest fee, or you can do it yourself by communicating direct with Companies House in Cardiff from which it is possible to obtain a microfiche of documents on the register. If you get a negative result from these further enquiries then it would seem to be a matter for you to report to the Police to investigate further. They should be able to get information which would otherwise not be available to you, e.g. from the bank which collected payment on your cheque and from whoever formed the company.

You do not say what is the nature of the "theatrical services" offered in the advertisement. If they related to investment it is illegal to advertise to the general public for investment in theatrical productions and, while there are a number of exceptions to this rule, there is nothing in your enquiry to indicate that any of the exceptions apply in your case. In such a case you should therefore also report the matter to the SIB (Securities and Investment Board) which should be interested to pursue its own enquiries into the matter. On the other hand, if the "theatrical services" offered, related to obtaining work for you as an agent, that would come under the jurisdiction of the Department of Trade and Industry to which the matter should in that event be reported. Possibly also The Stage might find it a newsworthy story to investigate.

However, whether any of this will get you your money back is doubtful. You could take the company to court but there would be no point in doing that if any assets, which it may have had, have been dissipated. You could also sue the individuals controlling the company's activities if you can trace them and establish fraudulent intent, which may not be easy. The outcome of enquiries by the Police, the press and the SIB or DTI should enable you to determine whether there is anybody worth suing, and how best to proceed.

First published November 1995