CORONATION Street icon Beverley Callard has been hit with a fresh blow – a more than £50,000 bill to wind up her firm.
It comes just months after it was revealed she is under investigation after her acting firm failed to settle a £100,000 tax bill.
Beverley’s company, of which she is a director, was set up to handle her pay after leaving the ITV soap and went into voluntary liquidation last year owing HMRC£101,554 in outstanding tax and VAT.
Liz McDonald legend Beverley and husband Jon McEwan have also failed to repay £114,000 in director’s loans they took out from the company, called JMBJ Limited.
Now liquidators have told the firm that they estimate the costs of dissolving the outfit will be £54,369.
They revealed in a report that a bill of more than £10,000 had already been reached by raking through the accounts of the failed firm with number crunchers charging £303 an hour.
Administrators have started an investigation into the business, including looking into the couple’s failure to repay the loans. They are also investigating her failure to repay the tax debts.
Liquidators confirmed in new documents that the directors have not paid back any of the loans or the tax bills.
They said: “We carried out an initial review of the company’s affairs, including seeking information and explanations from the directors by means of questionnaires, making enquiries of the company’s accountants, examining company bank statements and other records.
This initial assessment revealed matters that the liquidators considered merited further investigation in relation to the director’s loans.
As a result, the liquidators have undertaken further reviews. They are making enquiries with the directors in relation to the outstanding balance owed.
If the director’s loans are not paid back soon, Bev and Jon, who married in 2010, could be made bankrupt.
Bev was previously declared bankrupt in 2012.
The soap star revealed at the time she had suffered a mental health breakdown, was caring for her mother who had Alzheimer’s and her pub business went under.
At her lowest point, her bank cards were declined in shops and she had to borrow cash from friends just to buy food.
At one point she and Jon survived on just one meal a day.
But she received a cash injection in 2020 when she appeared on I’m A Celeb.
The couple are currently renovating a canal boat they bought in lockdown.
