A STRING of companies linked to The Convent in Woodchester have been placed in temporarily liquidation by the government to protect more than £7.8 million raised by investors.

The investigation, led by the Insolvency Service, has seen the seizure of 13 companies run by Matt and Charlotte Roberts, all operated from hotel and music venue The Convent, which ceased hosting live performances in March.

Previous investigations from the SNJ highlighted that the married couple, who were both declared bankrupt, had parented 78 companies under a range of varying aliases.

Private individuals entered into investor agreements with at least eight of the companies involved in the seizure, raising a minimum of £7.8 million.

The liquidation of these companies is to protect the assets while the case goes to the High Court on Wednesday, September 20, when Mr and Mrs Roberts can petition against the decision.

Out of the 13 companies that have been temporarily liquidated, 11 relate to the venue in Woodchester, but two relate to the Convent in The Hills Scheme, which sought to build “a new exclusive eco village” in the woodlands of Norway.

For this scheme, investors needed to put down a minimum of £15,000, for which they would have got shares in the company.

Anthony Tabor, the director of two sub-companies which contain 40 of the 270 Convent investors, claims there is no sign of the investors seeing the returns they had been expecting.

He told the SNJ that he knew of £2 million that had been injected into the Norwegian scheme with a further £6 million invested in the freeholds for the buildings which surrounds the former convent of Poor Clares in South Woodchester.

In March the SNJ also reported on the initiation of the insolvency investigations, these were into allegations that Matt Roberts breached a bankruptcy order through his involvement in companies related to The Convent.

A spokesman for the Insolvency Services said at the time: “The investigation is being dealt with by an investigator at our London office and the case is with an insolvency practitioner.”

The 13 companies that have been placed in provisional liquidation are: BBH Property 1 Limited, BBH Property 2 Limited, Crowdseed3 Limited, Crowdseed4 Limited, HH Property 4 Limited, Convent (Stroud) Limited, Roomco Limited, Convent Live Limited, Thornley Property (Stroud) Limited, Netgiglive Limited, Music Show Limited, The Convent In The Hills Limited and The Convent In The Hills2 Limited.

The full statement, issued by the government body last Monday, is as follows: “Thirteen companies have been placed in provisional liquidation following an investigation by Company Investigations of the Insolvency Service.

“Eleven of the companies were involved in the acquisition, development and/or operation of The Convent Hotel & Spa in Woodchester, near Stroud, Gloucestershire, that traded as a hotel and music venue.

“The two other companies, The Convent in the Hills Limited and The Convent in the Hills 2 Limited raised investments to acquire land and develop a separate project in Norway.

“Private individuals entered into investor agreements with at least eight of the companies raising a minimum of £7.8 million.

“The land and buildings of The Convent Hotel & Spa are currently under the control of LPA receivers who were appointed in respect of a secured charge held by a financial institution.

“The companies all traded from The Convent, Convent Lane, Woodchester, Stroud, Gloucestershire, GL5 5HS.

“The role of the provisional liquidator is to protect assets in the possession or under the control of the companies pending the determination of the petitions.

“The provisional liquidator also has the power to investigate the affairs of the companies insofar as it is necessary to protect assets including any third party, or trust monies, or assets in the possession of, or under the control of the companies.

“The case is now subject to High Court action and no further information will be made available until petitions to wind up the companies are heard in the High Court on 20 September 2017.”