Sean MacDonald, owner of the Midlands reseller, had been subject to a County Court Judgement issued in July ordering him to repay more than £3,700 for unpaid invoices, owed to Durham-based print firm Print Me It, and court costs.
But MacDonald declared bankruptcy on 22 August, leaving Print Me It, and a number of other small print firms that have contacted PrintWeek, each claiming that MacDonald owed them around £3,500, out of pocket.
In the latest development, a report filed by the Insolvency Service shows that MacDonald owed a total of £76,392.77.
Of the total amount £20,401 is categorised as trade and expense liability, £26,199 is owed to credit companies, £10,665 to banks, £10,901 to other financial institutions, £181 to utilities companies and £8,044 is listed as miscellaneous debt.
According to a letter sent to creditors from the Insolvency Service, and seen by PrintWeek, Macdonald, who began trading as 2 Print 4 U in 2010, cited a "marked decrease in customer numbers" as the reason for the failure of the business.
The letter stated that there was "no apparent prospect of a distribution of funds" and therefore that there would be no meeting of creditors.
Print Me It office manager Keith Stoker said that although the company accepted that they would not see their money, he wanted to see an investigation into MacDonald’s activities.
Stoker said: "Our concern is that this guy didn’t suddenly have no money. He owed us for 18 months and taking him to court was a last resort. What upsets me is that he was paid for the work that we did for him and we have no idea where that money went.
"I want to see a proper investigation into this because otherwise he can just get away with it and keep operating under other names. It’s just unfair that it seems there is nothing that can be done about people like this," he said.
Among the other small print firms that contacted PrintWeek there is strong support for Stoker's views.
One owner said: "There are obviously more out there who this has happened to so I really hope something can be done to stop it happening to others."
