Noodle bar boss sentenced after ignoring company director ban and using false employment document

Desmond Pheby continued running a noodle bar franchise company despite being disqualified as a director  

He used a false employment document which presented him as a £12-an-hour “Franchise Relationship Manager”  

Pheby was handed a suspended sentence and director ban until 2036

A noodle bar franchise boss who carried on running his business despite being disqualified as a company director has been sentenced and handed a fresh 10-year ban. 

Desmond Pheby, 57, continued managing Wok & Go Franchise UK Limited, which sold franchises for the Wok & Go noodle takeaway chain, despite an earlier seven-year director disqualification for failing to keep accounting records. 

He also used a false employment document in civil court proceedings which presented him as a £12-an-hour “Franchise Relationship Manager”. 

Pheby, of Harley Drive, Higher Kinnerton, Flintshire, North Wales, was sentenced at Chester Crown Court on Monday 5 October. 

He received 12 months in prison, suspended for two years, and was ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work. Pheby was also disqualified as a director for a further 10 years. 

His wife, Sharon Pheby, 51, of the same address, admitted aiding and abetting her husband to act in breach of his director disqualification. 

She was given a 12-month community order, ordered to complete 100 hours of unpaid work and disqualified as a director for five years. 

Confiscation proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 are ongoing.

David Snasdell, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said:

Desmond Pheby knew he was banned from running companies but continued managing his business regardless. 

His original ban followed serious failures over company accounting records, but rather than learn from that, he ignored the restrictions placed on him. 

He then used a false employment document in civil court proceedings where his role in the company was one of the issues in dispute.