Usually-prolific tweeter Carole Cadwalladr has been mysteriously quiet since Guido revealed she’d been unlawfully soliciting crowd-raised funds via her struck-off company, We The Citizens Ltd. When Guido went to pixel, her active crowdfunding page was still soliciting and taking donations. Today it still is, albeit with one quiet change…

The registered beneficiary of the page has been switched from the struck off We The Citizens Ltd. to All The Citizens.

“We the Citizens Limited” filed to strike off on January 12, 2022 and was struck off on April 12, 2022. During the period when by law the company should have ceased all activity – which pre-dates the file off date by 3 months – she used it to raise thousands of pounds to fund the “upcoming trial, and the preparation for the trial, are the most expensive parts of the litigation. I would be very grateful for any further donations to assist me with this crucial stage, or if you could share this fundraiser with your networks” according to a written statement by Cadwalladr on the crowdfunder dated January 14, 2022.  Guido’s understanding of the law is that all those funds were solicited improperly and legally should be the property of the crown.

Last night following our story, Carole updated her crowdfunding page to confess to breaching the Companies Act:

“Meanwhile, there’s a housekeeping update: we’ve moved the money into a ring fenced bank account with the Citizens as of January 2022. This is a registered company All the Citizens which houses the media non-profit, I set up two years ago. If I lose, this goes to Banks. If I win, I intend to offer anyone who donated the option of being refunded. Otherwise, it goes to the Citizens where it will be used to fund more vital investigative journalism.”

A company filing for dissolution must be inactive for 3 months, not soliciting revenue or spending it. Awkward.

Guido was particularly amused to see, among the overnight donors, one named Alan Simpson donating £20 along with the message, “Guido had another go at you. Good luck.” Guido is happy to take Carole’s quiet change as an admission our legal analysis is correct…