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| BHS former boss Darren Topp says Dominic Chappell threatened to kill him over £1.5m transfer | BHS former boss Darren Topp says Dominic Chappell threatened to kill him over £1.5m transfer |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Darren Topp, the former boss of BHS, has said former owner Dominic Chappell threatened to kill him when he challenged him over a £1.5 million transfer out of the businesss. | |
| MPs on the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee asked Topp about a £1.5 million transfer Chappell made from BHS to a company called BHS Sweden. | MPs on the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee asked Topp about a £1.5 million transfer Chappell made from BHS to a company called BHS Sweden. |
| Topp said that when he phoned Chappell to question him about the transfer, Chappell threatened to kill him, saying: "If you kick off about it I'm going to come down there and kill you." | |
| Chappell said the money was to "look after the home team". He also told Topp that he was ex-SAS and owned a gun. | Chappell said the money was to "look after the home team". He also told Topp that he was ex-SAS and owned a gun. |
| The money was later recovered save for £50,00 in fees. Topp said he thought the money had been completely recovered. | The money was later recovered save for £50,00 in fees. Topp said he thought the money had been completely recovered. |
| The revelations came in a remarkable hearing before MPs about the unravelling of BHS, which sold to Dominic Chappell by Sir Philip Green's Arcadia for £1 in March 2015. | The revelations came in a remarkable hearing before MPs about the unravelling of BHS, which sold to Dominic Chappell by Sir Philip Green's Arcadia for £1 in March 2015. |
| During the session with former bosses of BHS, Chappell was branded a “Premier League liar” with his “fingers in the till”. | During the session with former bosses of BHS, Chappell was branded a “Premier League liar” with his “fingers in the till”. |
| Michael Hitchcock, former financial adviser to BHS, said Chappell was “a Premier League liar and a Sunday pub league retailer, at best.” | Michael Hitchcock, former financial adviser to BHS, said Chappell was “a Premier League liar and a Sunday pub league retailer, at best.” |
| “So many people believed him, but he was a liar,” Hitchcock said. Hitchcock was hired by Topp to look into finances at the firm after Topp grew suspicious. | “So many people believed him, but he was a liar,” Hitchcock said. Hitchcock was hired by Topp to look into finances at the firm after Topp grew suspicious. |
| Asked why he thought Chappell was a liar, Hitchcock said he didn’t put the money into BHS that he had promised to when he bought it from Sir Philip Green’s Arcadia. | Asked why he thought Chappell was a liar, Hitchcock said he didn’t put the money into BHS that he had promised to when he bought it from Sir Philip Green’s Arcadia. |
| Hitchcock said the facts were that Retail Acquisitions Limited, the company Chappell used for the BHS takeover, put £10 million into the business and took £17 million out of it. | Hitchcock said the facts were that Retail Acquisitions Limited, the company Chappell used for the BHS takeover, put £10 million into the business and took £17 million out of it. |
| He said Sir Green had left the BHS balance sheet "stacked for the value". | He said Sir Green had left the BHS balance sheet "stacked for the value". |
| "On the balance sheet I saw there was enough value that if leveraged correctly you could give the business a much better chance than Chappell allowed," Hitchcock said. | "On the balance sheet I saw there was enough value that if leveraged correctly you could give the business a much better chance than Chappell allowed," Hitchcock said. |
| More than 10,000 jobs will go after administrators failed to find a buyer for the British retailer, leaving gaping holes on high streets around the country. | |
| All of the 163 BHS stores in the UK will hold closing down sales in the coming weeks, marking one of the biggest failures in UK retail since Woolworths closed in 2008. |