Ström Talent UK Limited

A Wakefield-based healthcare recruitment firm has entered administration after its secured creditor discovered that the company was engaged in an apparent fraudulent invoicing scheme involving fake email addresses, inflated accounts and falsified placements.

Ström Talent UK Limited, which traded as YourCare, was incorporated in July 2020 to specialise in healthcare recruitment.

In November 2022, the company was selected for audit by the insurance provider of its secured creditor, Easypay Services Limited, due to concerns over the frequent credits and ageing of the company’s sales ledger.

On validating the individual account balances, Easypay were advised that the company’s clients either had a different value of debt outstanding or no knowledge of agency workers ever being placed with them at their care homes. It was also noted that a large portion of the agency workers did not have national insurance numbers.

On discovering these details, the senior management team at Easypay continued their internal investigation and discovered that domains of multiple email addresses for the care homes, which were provided to them by the company, were different from the actual and correct domain names of the care homes. These contact details were required to approve the placement of the workers and their timesheets and process their payments.

It was also discovered that the domains of these email addresses were registered within two days of the unpaid invoices being rendered, raising concerns regarding the veracity of invoices.

Nicola Baker of Rushtons Insolvency was appointed Administrator on 2 December, 2022, and has been assisted by Andrew Jackson Solicitors.

The Administrator’s Proposals can be found HERE.