The director of three companies who organised a vast landbanking scam which deceived the public into paying over a million pounds for small, low-value plots of land, has been disqualified for 14 years.

Eren Metcalfe, 26, of Woodford Green, was the lone director of Natural Wealth Solutions Ltd, Proctor Capital Ltd and Land Security Management Ltd, all of which were closed in the public interest by the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, following an investigation after complaints were made by members of the public.

Assessment of the companies’ business transactions by the Official Receiver after the winding up orders demonstrated that Natural Wealth Solutions Ltd and Proctor Capital Ltd gained at least £1.7 million from the landbanking scheme.

Customers were told by the companies’ salespeople that the plots of land were suitable for development, with a reasonable likelihood of planning permission being granted, when, in reality, the land was sold at 18 to 63 times the original price per acre, with low development prospects.

Neither Mr Metcalfe (formerly known as Eren Cemal Ibrahim) nor the staff had any proficiency in evaluating land, and hadn’t looked in to the chances of planning permission being approved.

Official Receiver at The Insolvency Service’s Public Interest Unit, Paul Titherington, said that in over seven years of dealing with landbanking scams, he was yet to see a single plot go on to obtain planning permission, with every customer losing money in a “horrendous investment”.

“As with all the other land banking companies that the Official Receiver has dealt with over many years, these companies have brought misery to unsuspecting members of the public, who were persuaded to part with their savings in exchange for virtually worthless plots of land,” he said.

“Whilst land can obviously be a secure investment, the way in which these companies sold it ultimately means there was no viable exit strategy for their so called investment.”

Some of the sites owned by the companies were located within Green Belt Landscape Protection Areas, and therefore had no realistic possibility of planning permission being granted. It was found that Mr Metcalfe knew of these restrictions when purchasing the sites.

The companies made no attempts to add value to the land, despite selling plots at significant mark ups on the price they had paid. No independent valuation or professional advice was taken to justify the rise in prices.

The investigation also found inconsistencies in the companies’ books, with little documentation to explain the purpose of sums totaling over £840,000.

Between July 2011 and September 2011, Mr Metcalfe instructed his solicitor to allocate payments totalling over £420,000 from his client account on behalf of Proctor Capital Ltd. The company records showed no documentation to explain these payments.

Proctor Capital Limited went into liquidation on the 23rd July 2013 and Mr Metcalfe gave an undertaking to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills to not be a director for 14 years, commencing on the 21st November 2014.

Under the disqualification order, Mr Metcalfe cannot act as the director of a company, take part in the promotion, formation or management of a company or limited liability partnership, act as an insolvency practitioner or be a receiver of a company’s property.