Is convicted ex accountant Darren Upton practicing?

[WordIsBond]

Well, well, well. Fox Bartfield is in Leeds. Who says you can't go home again?

Earlier:

Wasn't one Darren CUK Forum Adviser of the year while the other was banged up?

Darren Roberts' first post on CUK was in April 2016 on contracting in Sheffield (Yorkshire again). He won best forum advisor in 2016 and 2017 in the annual reader awards, after Upton would have been out. And this was stated on another thread:

I believe the best evidence was from NLUK, in that Darren Upton should have been in prison (assuming no early release) while Darren Roberts was winning Contractor UK awards year in and year out.

To which Darren himself replied:

Very true about the awards.

He knew he didn't get those awards during the time Darren Upton was in prison, and if he were honest he'd have said so, rather than claiming it proved his innocence. So he lied. And that, as much as the obvious physical likeness, is pretty damning. He could have said, 'Not true, my first award wasn't until 2016,' and he'd have actually gained credibility, but liars usually get in such a habit of lying they can't help themselves, and end up lying on things, like this, that are easily disproved.

Also earlier:

I joined Dynamo because of Darren's helpful advice on the forum, and I know others did too - so a presence does win business.

I found Darren to be knowledgeable and helpful....

No one ever said Darren Upton wasn't knowledgeable. And apparently Dynamo has chosen to profit from that without saying anything?

• You'd think the bloody tabloid press would be interested in this one, given the lurid backstory.
• You'd think anyone at Fox-Bartfield who wants to have any credibility here would be speaking up to say, 'No, it wasn't him, here's proof,' but they aren't.
• You'd think Dynamo would be either saying, 'We blew it,' or 'No, we know it isn't him, and here's why.'
• You'd think IPSE would be ripping any partnership they have with Dynamo to shreds unless there's an immediate and public refutation or explanation.
• You'd also think Companies House would be interested if someone was registered as a person of significant control under a false name.
• You'd think Generate (claimed on his LinkedIn for the time Darren Upton was in prision) would be willing to confirm aye or nay, 'Yes, we had a Darren Roberts here during that time' or 'no, it's a lie'.
• You'd think the bloody parole board might care that he's been practicing accountancy, unless they were so remiss as to not restrict him from that in the terms of his parole.
• You'd think ContractorUK would actually ask someone in the press or at IPSE or somewhere to investigate, since they have been providing a forum for this guy and giving him awards, instead of just sitting silently on this. If this guy was at Fox-Bartfield and Dynamo, how come no one is shining the light on those firms for letting him practice and draw clients in?

[WordIsBond]

Well, at the time Darren Upton was banged up, Darren Roberts was working for Generate FS. The MD there is an Adam Barton, who is also an owner (person of significant control) at Fox Bartfield, so would presumably know if Darren was really there or not.

If you've got a guy who will cover for you by bringing you on under a false name, and you have to invent a LinkedIn history, it wouldn't be surprising if the history you invent is at the same firm your buddy was working for.

Maybe it's all on the up and up and Adam Barton is an upstanding guy and all of this is just coincidence but it starts to really, really smell bad, doesn't it?

[northernladuk]

• You'd think the bloody tabloid press would be interested in this one, given the lurid backstory.
• You'd think anyone at Fox-Bartfield who wants to have any credibility here would be speaking up to say, 'No, it wasn't him, here's proof,' but they aren't.
• You'd think Dynamo would be either saying, 'We blew it,' or 'No, we know it isn't him, and here's why.'
• You'd think IPSE would be ripping any partnership they have with Dynamo to shreds unless there's an immediate and public refutation or explanation.
• You'd also think Companies House would be interested if someone was registered as a person of significant control under a false name.
• You'd think Generate (claimed on his LinkedIn for the time Darren Upton was in prision) would be willing to confirm aye or nay, 'Yes, we had a Darren Roberts here during that time' or 'no, it's a lie'.
• You'd think the bloody parole board might care that he's been practicing accountancy, unless they were so remiss as to not restrict him from that in the terms of his parole.
• You'd think ContractorUK would actually ask someone in the press or at IPSE or somewhere to investigate, since they have been providing a forum for this guy and giving him awards, instead of just sitting silently on this. If this guy was at Fox-Bartfield and Dynamo, how come no one is shining the light on those firms for letting him practice and draw clients in?

Bearing in mind he said in one of the posts linked he'd send his pictures and associated documentation to admin, wouldn't admin publishing his findings also be one for this list?

[WordIsBond]

Bearing in mind he said in one of the posts linked he'd send his pictures and associated documentation to admin, wouldn't admin publishing his findings also be one for this list?

Yep. Admin could at least say, 'Never received, we've not had any response.' The silence is weird and not helpful to this site. Cojak did say something a while back but there's never been any follow-up. Do they know it's him and are trying to figure out damage control? Do they know it's not him? Are they investigating? Are they just not bothered by it all? It's weird.

[Nigel Miller]

I love these kind of threads! It's what boards are for.

I particularly liked the 'I have no proof but....' line.

I can't prove it on here. I could prove it in court. Because he's the same person.

[Invisiblehand]

Well, well, well. Fox Bartfield is in Leeds. Who says you can't go home again?

Earlier:

Darren Roberts' first post on CUK was in April 2016 on contracting in Sheffield (Yorkshire again). He won best forum advisor in 2016 and 2017 in the annual reader awards, after Upton would have been out. And this was stated on another thread:

To which Darren himself replied:


He knew he didn't get those awards during the time Darren Upton was in prison, and if he were honest he'd have said so, rather than claiming it proved his innocence. So he lied. And that, as much as the obvious physical likeness, is pretty damning. He could have said, 'Not true, my first award wasn't until 2016,' and he'd have actually gained credibility, but liars usually get in such a habit of lying they can't help themselves, and end up lying on things, like this, that are easily disproved.

Also earlier:

No one ever said Darren Upton wasn't knowledgeable. And apparently Dynamo has chosen to profit from that without saying anything?

• You'd think the bloody tabloid press would be interested in this one, given the lurid backstory.
• You'd think anyone at Fox-Bartfield who wants to have any credibility here would be speaking up to say, 'No, it wasn't him, here's proof,' but they aren't.
• You'd think Dynamo would be either saying, 'We blew it,' or 'No, we know it isn't him, and here's why.'
• You'd think IPSE would be ripping any partnership they have with Dynamo to shreds unless there's an immediate and public refutation or explanation.
• You'd also think Companies House would be interested if someone was registered as a person of significant control under a false name.
• You'd think Generate (claimed on his LinkedIn for the time Darren Upton was in prision) would be willing to confirm aye or nay, 'Yes, we had a Darren Roberts here during that time' or 'no, it's a lie'.
• You'd think the bloody parole board might care that he's been practicing accountancy, unless they were so remiss as to not restrict him from that in the terms of his parole.
• You'd think ContractorUK would actually ask someone in the press or at IPSE or somewhere to investigate, since they have been providing a forum for this guy and giving him awards, instead of just sitting silently on this. If this guy was at Fox-Bartfield and Dynamo, how come no one is shining the light on those firms for letting him practice and draw clients in?

Couldn't agree with this more. Everyone is simply being quiet to try and avoid the inevitable egg on their face.

[jamesbrown]

Astonishing.

I don't think this is going away.

[WordIsBond]

I can't prove it on here. I could prove it in court. Because he's the same person.

For those of us who lacked your assurance on the matter, that was still always a possible explanation for why he didn't drag you into court.

[WordIsBond]

I'll add one more to my list of bullet-points above.

• You'd think, since Dynamo Accounts is with ICAEW, that any of the accountants on here who are members of ICAEW (and therefore care about its credibility) would be asking ICAEW to take this up with Dynamo as a matter of urgency. Because this is making me (and I'm not alone) doubt whether having a chartered accountant is worth anything, if they are intentionally or accidentally engaging Darren Upton.

[mudskipper]

I'll add one more to my list of bullet-points above.

• You'd think, since Dynamo Accounts is with ICAEW, that any of the accountants on here who are members of ICAEW (and therefore care about its credibility) would be asking ICAEW to take this up with Dynamo as a matter of urgency. Because this is making me (and I'm not alone) doubt whether having a chartered accountant is worth anything, if they are intentionally or accidentally engaging Darren Upton.

TBF, we don't yet know that this is the case - I have asked my accountant for confirmation or otherwise and will reserve judgement until her response.