Cameo boss declared bankrupt

The ruling against Jon King was made in Reading County Court and will be in force until its automatic discharge on May 28, 2013.
The Midgham-based firm has been at the centre of an international storm since the Newbury Weekly News first published some clients’ concerns over non-payment, bounced cheques and missing goods.
The floodgates opened and hundreds of complaints flooded in from across the globe.
There were also numerous claims that Cameo wrongly took cash from the bank accounts of dozens of people who merely registered but had never taken part in an auction.
There was a dramatic development last month when it emerged that Thames Valley Police had launched a criminal investigation and force spokeswoman Lucy Billen said this week that that continued.
Cameo suspended trading following a raid by West Berkshire Council’s trading standards officers last month.
Around the same time Cameo boss Jon King, of Mattock Way, Abingdon, registered a new company name.
The new firm, Cameo Auctioneers Limited, was incorporated on April 12 and members of the King family are listed as directors.
A second new firm, Wiltshire Auction Rooms Ltd, was registered in the name of Mr King’s wife, Beverly, on April 23.
Meanwhile trading standards officer Sean Murphy revealed that the department had fielded more than 450 complaints about the auctioneers since the initial NWN report.
He added: “We have taken comprehensive details from 200 of these and we are continuing to evaluate these and other material. We will also be informing everyone who has contacted us of Mr King’s bankruptcy because they will need to inform the Insolvency Service of their claims.”
The bankruptcy hearing was prompted by a creditor’s petition.
Anyone wishing to contact trading standards about Cameo Auctions should phone (01635) 519930 or email tsadvice@westberks.gov.uk