Northampton Town loan: David Cardoza faces losing house
A former football club chairman is facing a bid to seize his home in a legal row over a £10.25m council loan.
Northampton Borough Council is trying to claw back cash given to Northampton Town for a redevelopment of its stadium, which was "misappropriated". It is taking action against ex-Cobblers chairman David Cardoza and his wife Christina to recover debts of £365,975. They were ordered to pay back the money following a civil court trial in Birmingham in January. The High Court found David Cardoza and his father Anthony had "breached their fiduciary duties" as directors of the League Two club. Cheriton, the home in Church Brampton that David and Christina Cardoza built using some of the loan money, has since been sold and the council is looking to seize their new property outside Northampton. The action is being defended by Christina Cardoza. Cabinet papers to be discussed on 16 October lay out the council's plan to recover the money, said the Local Democracy Reporting Service. They add that the council is being transferred ownership of residential properties in Milton Keynes from Artefact Investments Ltd, a company linked to the Cardozas. The council says loan money was used to buy the properties. They are worth about £680,000 and "action is being taken to secure the maximum recoverable equity in the two properties," say the papers. The papers reveal an independent trustee will look into Anthony Cardoza's assets to redistribute them to creditors including the council. Antony Cardoza was ordered to repay £2.1m in January, having received money from a company called 1st Land Ltd which acted as developer. He has since declared bankruptcy. About £7m of the loan was passed by the football club to 1st Land, now in liquidation. Its sole director Howard Grossman was banned in February from running companies for 10 years. An Insolvency Service investigation could not trace where £5.6m went and whether £1.5m was used by Mr Grossman's family. Liquidator Deloitte said the company has no "discernible assets", and the council is being asked to fund specialists to pursue companies and individuals linked to money which "dissipated" from 1st Land.