Police may be called into PNC Telecom

The newly appointed directors of PNC Telecom, the cash shell listed on Aim, threatened yesterday to bring in the police and the Financial Services Authority as they revealed yet another black hole in the company's books.

The newly appointed directors of PNC Telecom, the cash shell listed on Aim, threatened yesterday to bring in the police and the Financial Services Authority as they revealed yet another black hole in the company's books.

PNC, which owned a telecoms services business and some mobile phone stores, sold its assets after going into administration last year. Upon emerging from administration in January, it was believed to have £1m of cash.

Last month, three former staff- Darren Ridge, Joseph Case and Leo Knifton - regained control of the company.

The latest twist in the saga began last week when shares in PNC were suspended. The new management followed that up with a statement yesterday that said: "The directors have initially found that the company's funds have reduced by over nine hundred thousand pounds since 15 January 2004.Your current board ... are investigating this. Should this investigation show any payment to have been inappropriate, the board will use all means available, including the FSA and/or the police to investigate further."