Shamed Sir Philip Green to escape a formal reprimand over the failings of BHS, boosting the bid to keep his knighthood
Investigators combing through 37 million electronic records are drawing up a finding that Green acted “immorally” but kept just on the right side of the law
SHAMED Sir Philip Green is to escape a formal reprimand from the Insolvency Service over BHS, boosting his bid to keep his knighthood.
The bankruptcy agency is probing the billionaire tycoon’s role in the former high street chain’s collapse just 12 months after he sold it for £1.
Investigators combing through 37 million electronic records are drawing up a finding that Green acted “immorally” but kept just on the right side of the law, The Sun has been told.
But twice bankrupt former racing driver Dominic Chappell, who bought BHS from Green, and is also being investigated, will face formal sanction.
The Honours Forfeiture Committee has said it will not take any decision on Green’s cherished gong until the Insolvency Service’s probe is complete.
A senior Whitehall source said: “It appears Green behaved immorally, but not illegally.
“It appears he had some very good advice.
The source added: “Ministers are determined not to let something like this happen again”.
Launched in May 2016, the Insolvency Service probe’s findings are still several months away.
Once it has reported, Business Secretary Greg Clark is expected to order a full review of the bankruptcy laws to tighten them up.
Green and Chappell are being probed over whether their conduct as directors of a limited liability company was appropriate.
The agency has the power to ban anyone from being a company director for up to 15 years.
The investigation began after a complaint by veteran Labour MP Frank Field.
Work and Pensions Committee chairman Mr Field: “If the big boy Green gets off while the little boy Chappell is done in, it hardly does much to the Prime Minister’s campaign to take on these powerful interests.
“The test the honours committee must apply is would Green be safe walking down a British street without his three SAS bodyguards?
“If not, he should not be allowed to keep his knighthood – that’s the test.”
Green still faces three further investigations from the Serious Fraud Office, HM Revenue and Customs and the liquidator, but the Insolvency Service’s investigation posed the biggest threat to his business empire.
The chain folded last summer with 11,000 jobs lost and a half-billion pound black hole in its pension fund.