THE man who was the boss of Christmas hamper company Farepak when it collapsed has been fined £15,000 but cleared of responsibility for its failure, which left thousands of families out of pocket.
William Rollason, the former chief executive of Farepak's parent company European Home Retail (EHR), admitted two counts of misconduct at an accountancy disciplinary tribunal.
He was also given a "severe reprimand" and ordered to pay £50,000 towards legal costs.
However, Mr Rollason's actions were judged by the Financial Reporting Council not to have contributed to Farepak's collapse in 2006.
The firm's collapse left 116,000 families a total of £37 million out of pocket.
Deb Harvey, secretary of the Ayrshire-based Farepak Victims Committee, said: "What an utter farce this has been."
The decision ends six years of legal proceedings which, Mr Rollason's barrister said, had "blighted" the former executive's career.
Mr Rollason was one of nine former Farepak and EHR directors who were subjected to disqualification proceedings by the Insolvency Service. That case was stopped in June last year because of a lack of evidence.
A High Court judge, after terminating the proceedings, said "not only did the directors do nothing wrong, but they made genuine strenuous efforts to save the group and the depositors". The judge instead blamed HBOS, EHR's bankers, for its failure.
Farepak savers received half their money back.
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