The boss of an unlawful care home investment scheme has been banned from being a company director for 14 years.

Robin Forster was a director at Qualia Care Properties Ltd and Qualia Care Developments Ltd, which the High Court ruled last year was an unlawful investment fund. 

Mike Smith, chief investigator at the Insolvency Service, said: “Robin Forster was the director of companies which put investor funds at risk through an unauthorised care home investment scheme. 

“Forster made false and misleading statements to investors, promising them returns which were never likely to be achievable. He also transferred funds to a connected company just days before both Qualia Care Properties Ltd and Qualia Care Developments Ltd went into administration. 

“His actions fall well below the standards the Insolvency Service expects of company directors and we are pleased to have secured a disqualification order lasting until February 2038.”

Forster directed two companies which took £57 million from investors and deprived creditors of more than £2 million through inter-connected business transfers in the days prior to his companies entering administration.

Qualia Care Properties Ltd and Qualia Care Developments Ltd offered investments in care homes in the Northeast of England between February 2016 and September 2020. 

Investors purchased a long-term lease on a room in a care home run by a third company, Qualia Care Ltd, and sub-let the room back to the other Qualia companies. 

The High Court ruled in favour of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in 2023 that it was unlawful and amounted to an unauthorised collective investment scheme.