Wilko’s administrators PwC will conduct a review into the dividends paid out to investors in the decade leading up to the retailer’s collapse.
PwC will question majority shareholder Lisa Wilkinson over the £77m paid out to the Wilkinson family and the chain’s other directors as part of a wider investigation into company transactions prior to administration, according to The Times.
The review comes as MPs call for an inquiry into the dividends paid out to the Wilkinson family as the company’s pension fund is taken into the Pension Protection Fund (PPF).
It is understood that PwC has started to collect information from the directors, and will soon conduct interviews and look through bank statements to investigate the cause of insolvency and whether claims should be brought against them.
The Wilkinson family have been criticised for paying £77m to themselves and former shareholders over the past decade – including a £3m payout last year despite the retailer reporting £39m in losses.
Labour MP for Weaver Vale Sir Mike Amesbury is drafting a letter to the prime minister requesting an inquiry into the dividends payout.
He said the situation “highlights the very worst case in the retail sector of capitalism with bells on. If that cash hadn’t been taken out, Wilko may well have rode through the storm.
“And if you look at the deficit of the pension fund there is a clear correlation over that period of time of similar levels of the dividends.”
The scheme has a deficit of £76m and is set to recover £20m from security as it acquired a distribution centre and other freehold properties.
A spokesman for the Pensions Regulator said: “We have been engaging for some time with Wilko and the pension scheme trustees to make sure members’ benefits are protected.”
The PPF said: “Scheme members can be reassured their benefits are protected to at least PPF levels.”
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