Patisserie Valerie’s CFO and three staff members charged with fraud

Wednesday 13th September, 2023

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has brought fraud charges against four individuals, relating to the collapse of high street cafe and cake chain Patisserie Valerie.

The SFO has charged former director and Chief Financial Officer of Patisserie Holdings Plc for 12 years.

His wife, accountant Louise Marsh has also been charged along with Financial Controller Pritesh Mistry and Financial consultant Nileshkumar Lad.

The company, which ran almost 200 high street cafes in the UK, collapsed in early 2019, just months after reports emerged of a multimillion-pound black hole in its finances, which was blamed on “potentially fraudulent” accounting irregularities.

All four suspects have been charged with conspiring to inflate the cash in Patisserie Holdings’ balance sheets and annual reports from 2015 to 2018, including by providing false documentation to the company’s auditors.

Lisa Osofsky, Director of the SFO, said: “Patisserie Valerie’s abrupt collapse rocked our high streets – leaving boarded-up shops, devastating job losses and significant investor losses in its wake. Today is a step forward in getting to the bottom of this scandal.”