The five men charged were: 65-year-old Stephen Knight and 72-year-old John Knight, both of Billericay, Essex; 55-year-old Paul Murphy and 51-year-old Phillip Sach, both of Chelmsford, and 67-year-old Brian Thomas, of Dengie, Southminster.

The five former directors were formally charged yesterday (29 June) at Westminster Magistrates Court and have been bailed to appear at Southwark Crown Court on 27 July.

All five resigned as directors of Anton Group on 1 October 2014, when the company was sold to the Anton Employee Ownership Trust (AEOT) for £14.3m.

John Knight, formerly chief executive of Anton Group prior to its sale to AEOT, said he could not comment on the charge at this time.

HMRC also declined to reveal the nature of the charges, but PrintWeek understands they relate to historic non-payment of tax relating to the sale of waste paper and used printing plates from before 2013.

£36.5m-turnover Anton Group fell into administration in March this year and ceased trading a month later with a creditors' shortfall of almost £13.4m. At the time of its collapse it employed 315 staff.

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