British Robocall Businessman Banned… 5 Years after the Nuisance Calls Began

Gregory Rudd, formerly the sole director of Keurboom Communications, has been banned from forming, promoting or managing a company for six years, reports the BBC. Keurboom supplied telecom solutions to call centers, and they were used to make nearly 100mn robocalls, mostly between late 2014 and early 2016. However, the recipients had not consented to being called, prompting 1,036 complaints to the Information Commissioner’s Office. Keurboom consequently received a record GBP400,000 (USD520,000) fine in 2017, but only after the company had already gone into voluntary liquidation.

A press release from the Insolvency Service describes Rudd’s punishment as a deterrent to others. Mark Bruce, Chief Investigator for the Insolvency Service, is quoted as saying:

This ban is a warning to other directors, who contribute to the scourge that is nuisance calls, that there are severe repercussions for such behaviour.

I would like to thank my colleagues at the Information Commissioners Office for their hard work and co-operation in achieving this outcome.

However, no mention is made about recovering any of the GBP400,000 fine from the liquidated company.

Instead of patting each other on the back, the Information Commissioner’s Office and the Insolvency Service should be talking about the adequacy of enforcement procedures. Their ‘hard work’ only succeeded in banning a pest from running a company five years after his robocalls were spamming ordinary phone users during both day and night. And if they did not recover the fine, how much public money has been spent on delivering this modest ‘warning’ to other spammers?

Eric Priezkalns
Eric Priezkalnshttp://revenueprotect.com

Eric is the Editor of Commsrisk. Look here for more about the history of Commsrisk and the role played by Eric.

Eric is also the Chief Executive of the Risk & Assurance Group (RAG), an association of professionals working in risk management and business assurance for communications providers. RAG was founded in 2003 and Eric was appointed CEO in 2016.

Previously Eric was Director of Risk Management for Qatar Telecom and he has worked with Cable & Wireless, T‑Mobile, Sky, Worldcom and other telcos. He was lead author of Revenue Assurance: Expert Opinions for Communications Providers, published by CRC Press.

Related Articles

Get Our Weekly Newsletter by Email