The three convinced investors to pump millions into a UK-based hotel room rental scheme, promising annual returns of 10%.

Ronald Albert Popely, 70, currently living Gibraltar, Darren James Popely, 52, of Sevenoaks, and Stephen William Dickson, 64, of Belvedere, Bexley, were directors of Oak Forest Partnership Limited.

The company was incorporated in July 2010 and was previously known as Oak Property Partnership Limited.

The company bought and refurbished Hever Hotel in Edenbridge, Kent, before offering people the opportunity to invest in hotel rooms.

Over three years, the directors leased 82 rooms to investors for at least £8.9 million, according to the government’s Insolvency Service which took action against the directors.

Investors were promised a return of 10% of the purchase price every year for 10 years. The developer also promised to buy back the rooms after five years at the original purchase price.

However, Oak Forest Partnership, went into insolvency in February 2017 with creditors, including hotel room investors, claiming more than £14.8 million in the liquidation.

The liquidation of the company sparked an investigation by the Insolvency Service whose investigators uncovered that the directors caused Oak Forest Partnership to enter into three “questionable” agreements that benefited the company and left investors being owed millions of pounds

The directors made £20.6 million worth of payments, including £7.1 million paid to connected companies. Ronald Popely also acted as a director of the company, including during two years which were in direct breach of his previous 9-year ban.

The Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy accepted disqualification undertakings from the three directors. The undertaking stops them from from directly, or indirectly, becoming involved in the promotion, formation or management of a company, without the permission of the court.

Stephen Dickson was the first director to be banned and his 7-year disqualification began on 29 April 2022. Both Ronald and Darren Popely received 9-year bans, which began on 12 May and 18 May respectively.

Liquidators of Oak Forest Partnership are working to assess whether recovery of funds is a viable option.

Dave Elliott, chief investigator at The Insolvency Service, said: “While people were thinking they were using their money in genuine investment opportunities the directors were entering into questionable agreements that would benefit themselves ahead of the investors.

“Ronald and Darren Popely, as well as Stephen Dickson, were aware of the implications of what they were doing and their bans should serve as a stark warning that if directors abuse the trust of their investors, we have recourse to remove you from the corporate arena for a significant amount of time.”