Tony Hill leaves SFI with nothing

The founder and chairman of SFI Group who yesterday resigned after the discovery of a £20m black hole in the company accounts will not receive a...

The founder and chairman of SFI Group who yesterday resigned after the discovery of a £20m black hole in the company accounts will not receive a penny.

Mr Hill (pictured), who stepped down as chief executive in April, quit after his position at the group became untenable.

It was during his tenure as chief executive, a position he stepped down from in April, that accounting errors were made.

These include an overstatement of assets and an understatement of liabilities to the tune of £20m. The company also overestimated the amount of cash that would be generated by the Parisa units it bought last November by £10m.

The founder has in the past been accused of almost gearing the company to death.

Last year Mr Hill sold close to £1m shares and saw his pay double to £460,000 despite stepping down to a non-executive.

"He has moved further away from the business and taken more cash out," said one analyst.

He has overseen lots of management changes including three finance directors in little more than a year. As the industry is now witnessing, the company is paying the price for not having the financial controls in place to accompany its rapid growth.

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Shares in SFI suspended (12 November 2002)