Gofer Mining plc is a multibillion-pound mining company, or so it seemed…

Outside of its website (last updated in 2022) and Companies House filings, there is little evidence that the company really exists.

A former senior tax lawyer, who has turned his attention to investigating fake companies at Companies House, has uncovered that while the company boasts an HQ in Canary Wharf, over 4,000 staff, and operations in 21 countries, these claims are, in fact, fabrications.

At first glance, the Gofer group’s annual report and accounts for 2019 don’t raise any obvious red flags. However, on deeper inspection, the report is littered with inconsistencies; for instance, referencing a 2018 balance sheet when the company was only incorporated in April 2019.

It transpires that the group has not filed accounts for several years and both the named auditor and firm that allegedly conducted its last audit (Smith Barclay LLP) are untraceable. Curiously, Gofer Mining’s CFO and director, the “Duke of Commonwealth”, also sits as director and ultimate owner of the non-existent Smith Barclay LLP, and even seems to have declared his own micronation, the “Union State of British Commonwealth.”

What’s more, the fake company has had serious real-world consequences. In 2020, Gofer Mining attempted to take over a Ukrainian goldmine using fake claims to appear as a legitimate investor, even placing a false ad in The Times about a £250m investment supposedly backed by Barclays Bank.

The Ukrainian courts stopped the attempt, but not before the British Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce warned that Gofer Mining's listing on Companies House gave it legitimacy, allowing it to conduct fraudulent activity.

All this and yet Gofer Mining plc remains a live company.

The revelations have been a stark reminder to critics who say that a lack of safeguards at Companies House are creating opportunities for potential fraud in the UK and worldwide, something which the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA) has been introduced to crack down on.

The ECCTA established new objectives for Companies House, including ensuring the accuracy of the register and prevention of companies and others from carrying out unlawful activities. It’s been almost a year since the first measures of ECCTA were implemented.

Since 4 March 2024, Companies House has had increased powers to query and remove false or incorrect information on its existing registers and new information submitted to it. It recently reported that, as of January 2025, its powers to remove and redact data has affected 75,600 companies in total.

At its own admission, Companies House has said its work will be ongoing over a number of years as it removes incorrect or fraudulent information from the register in priority order, and that it is not currently possible to set a firm timetable for implementation of all measures of the ECCTA.

However, the ECCTA also introduces a new failure to prevent fraud offence which holds organisations criminally liable if an employee, agent, subsidiary or other “associated person” commits fraud intending to benefit the organisation, and the organisation did not have reasonable fraud prevention procedures in place at the time of the fraud.

The offence comes into force on 1 September 2025, and is part of the UK’s crackdown to prevent cases such as this, where fraudulent claims and fabricated information are used to deceive investors and authorities.

By enforcing these measures, the ECCTA aims to restore trust in the corporate sector and provide robust safeguards for the integrity of the UK business environment. As Companies House continues to enhance its powers to detect and remove fraudulent information, the failure to prevent fraud offence will play a pivotal role in deterring fraudulent enterprises from exploiting regulatory gaps.