Simon Morris the property entrepreneur who became bankrupt in October 2009 has had his bankruptcy period extended by another ten years, after he was found by Leeds County Court to have not disclosed all of his assets to the debt recovery specialists, KPMG who were acting on behalf of his creditors.

The court ruled that Morris had “dealt with monies held in bank accounts in his name after the date of the bankruptcy order to the detriment of his bankruptcy creditors.”

Morris’s SRM Holdings which had a portfolio in excess of 500 residential and commercial properties in Leeds went into administration in October 2008, with over £50million being owed to lenders.

In normal circumstances someone who is declared bankrupt would be discharged after just one year and then released from many of their debts

However Morris’ discharge from bankruptcy has been suspended for ten years. Forensic recovery specialist Kevin Mawer of KPMG described the court’s decision in the Yorkshire Post as being “extremely unusual”.

“An individual is normally entitled to an automatic discharge from bankruptcy one year after being made bankrupt,” said Mawer

“However, a trustee in bankruptcy can make an application to court for that automatic discharge to be suspended in instances where a bankrupt has failed to co-operate with the trustee’s enquiries.”

Morris was featured in a Panorama television expose in early 2009 after numerous accusations by a number of property investors, who had bought buy-to-let properties from Morris Properties claimed that they had been overcharged.

Morris was arrested after accusations of money laundering and fraud, however he has yet to be charged and has strongly denied that he was guilty of any wrongdoing.

The Serious Fraud Office subsequently dropped an inquiry into Mr Morris business affairs in May 2010 on the grounds of insufficient evidence.



After the recent court hearing in January this year at which Morris’ bankruptcy was extended, he said in an interview that he expected the court order to be overturned quickly and that “he was co-operating fully and the order is nothing but a technicality."



However some weeks later the court order still remains in place and the insolvency specialist, Kevin Mawer of KPMG confirmed to ‘Property Investor News™’ that: “I am not anticipating a change to this situation in the next ten years, but would be delighted on behalf of the creditors if that is an incorrect assumption.”