Employee held senior finance job at company

Arena OB

Administrator Kroll has filed a claim against former Arena TV employee Nicholas Cousins. 

According to the Sunday Times, Kroll made the High Court claim against Cousins last week, with Cousins having held a senior finance role at the company. A long-term employee, Cousins left several weeks before Arena TV ceased trading.

Cousins is the third person from Arena TV to have been named by the investigation, following on from founder Richard Yeowart and director Robert Hopkinson. The Serious Fraud Office has made two arrests to date, neither of which were Yeowart or Hopkinson, and searched three sites alongside the National Crime Agency. Client Sentinel Broadcast is also thought to be under investigation.

A civil case brought against the pair by Kroll alleges that they committed a complicated fraud through a company called Sport Online Limited, which involved cryptocurrency, false certificates, and more. A full explanation of the allegations can be found here.

Yeowart and Hopkinson’s location is currently unknown, with reports placing them in France earlier this year. Both went missing after Arena TV ceased trading last November, and it was later discovered that the company was over £280 million in debt - around £180 million is suspected of being fraudulent.

Yeowart and Hopkinson were made bankrupt in absentia earlier this year, with Kroll’s progress report also revealing that just under £8.5 million was made from the auction of Arena TV’s assets, and that all employees except from one had been paid up until the end of November 2021.

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