A "devious" former bankrupt who helped found a company that won a £50,000 publicly-funded award is being probed by Police Scotland.
A complaint against Stephen Roberts, one of the figures behind healthcare start-up Log Six Systems (LSS), was made to the single force about his business activities during a period when he was banned as a director.
In 2013, LSS won £50,000 at the Scottish Edge Awards, a Dragon's Den-style competition that was run by Scottish Enterprise on behalf of the Government.
Finance Secretary John Swinney presented Roberts and a former director with the prize.
However, this newspaper revealed that LSS won the sum in spite of Roberts' chequered business history.
In 2010, he was disqualified from holding a directorship for four years after he "failed to ensure" a previous company had paid its tax.
The firm, Innova Business Solutions, owed the taxman £292,882 at the time of liquidation.
A tribunal judge rejected an appeal and said of Roberts: "In cross examination he was evasive and devious."
Roberts was then made bankrupt for a short period, after which LSS emerged.
The directorship ban stopped him from taking part, "whether directly or indirectly, in the promotion, formation or management of a company."
Roberts was never a director of LSS, which was set up in 2012, but he was recorded saying on the crowd-funding website Square Knot: "We kill superbugs, but we can do it 12 times faster and 100 times cheaper than existing disinfection methods."
He added: "Log Six has the ability to save lives, time and money on a global scale with proven technology to a global problem. And with your help we can make it happen faster."
A Linkedin profile described Roberts as the "founder" of LSS, while a Scottish Enterprise official said in evidence to a Holyrood committee: "I understand that he is the co-founder."
Scottish Enterprise later withheld a portion of the £50,000 prize after accusing LSS of not informing the quango of a change in the company shareholding.
"We expect the companies we support to be open and transparent with us and as Log Six Systems failed to share this important information we have taken the decision to cease our relationship with the company," a quango spokesperson said at the time.
It is understood police officers have conducted interviews following a complaint to the force.
The identity of the complainer is unknown.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: "We can confirm that a complaint has been received in respect of a 46 year-old man and police enquiries are currently ongoing."
Roberts' director curb is no longer in place.
According to business databases, Log Six's two directors quit in 2014.
The company has also failed to failed to submit its annual return, which lists shareholders, on time.
A Companies House spokesman said: "This company is being struck-off for non-compliance - failure to file their annual return. If the company files up-to-date before the end of the three months all action will stop and the will carry on as normal."
Roberts said: "I have not been questioned by the police about any complaint of any nature whatsoever. I have always been fully open in all of my business and personal dealings including about my previous strike off and bankruptcy, both of which expired some time ago. I was one of approximately 30,000 people declared bankrupt in Scotland during the recession and I am now trying to rebuild my business which has innovative technology solutions which I hope will offer benefits to public health."
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