Liam John Brooke, 43, co-founder and director of the failed peer-to-peer lending firm Lendy Ltd, has been declared bankrupt, the mouseinthecourt can exclusively report.
If you’ve already read our background piece ‘Lendy Director issued with Bankruptcy Petition’ jump forward to read about the bankruptcy hearing.
Liam Brooke pictured at Cowes Week
Lendy was a so-called peer-to-peer lending company which facilitated the crowdfunding of loans by members of the public secured against property and other assets.
Lendy was fully authorised by the FCA and had some 10,500 active investors on the platform.
The company was placed into administration in May 2019 following action taken by the Financial Conduct Authority and Damian Webb, Phillip Rodney Sykes and Mark John Wilson of RSM Restructuring Advisory LLP were appointed as joint administrators.
The filing of the bankruptcy petition was made at London’s High Court on Friday 16th January 2026 at 2.53pm and was issued by law firm Pinsent Masons LLP, on behalf of Lendy Ltd (in administration).
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Reporting by freelance journalist Daniel Cloake
In October 2022 this site reported that a fraud claim, dubbed the Marshall Island Mystery, made against the two former directors of the platform, who were accused of misappropriating funds worth £6.5m via offshore entities, had settled by means of a confidential agreement.
The directors explicitly denied any accusation of wrongdoing throughout.
The Business and Property Courts where the claim has been filed
The latest update from the Lendy joint administrators 13th progress report, dated December 2025, in respect of the settlement agreement, states:
The headline terms of the settlement were for payment of £3.4m in full settlement of the claims, with the funds expected to be paid in full by the end of 2023.
Payment of the outstanding amounts before the original December 2023 deadline was not forthcoming from certain respondents. The Joint Administrators agreed an extension with those respondents to 28th June 2024, which was subsequently further extended to 30 September 2024 due to non-payment. The extended payment terms were not complied with and during the period, the Joint Administrators continued to seek recovery of the final sums owed under the settlement. This has included liaising with our instructed solicitors, Pinsent Masons, in respect of the same.
On 26 August 2025, a letter of demand was issued to certain respondents demanding payment due under the settlement agreement. It was stated that if payment was not made, the Administrators would appoint Receivers over property which was granted as security under the settlement agreement. Following non-payment, on 10 September 2025 the Administrators enforced the security and appointed Jon Cookson and Anthony Hart of Hilco Appraisal Limited t/a Hilco Valuation Services as Receivers over the property.
The property was sold for £362,500 on 8 October 2025. The net proceeds of sale, after deduction of associated costs and expenses, was £321,927. That amount has been set off against the sums due from the remaining respondents under the settlement agreement, with the balance payable being £1,113,851 plus accruing interests and costs. We remain in correspondence with the remaining respondents to pursue the remaining balance due.
Bankruptcy Petition Hearing
Following a four-minute-hearing at London’s High Court ICC judge Nicholas Briggs formally declared Liam Brooke bankrupt.
Barrister Joseph Mahon, who appeared representing the petitioner Lendy Ltd (In Administration), explained that the administrators had enforced the sale of a property which had generated net proceeds of some £321k.
It is understood the outstanding amount of the debt, including interest and costs, was some £1.1m.
Confirming that “the papers are in order” ICC Judge Briggs said the “time now is 10.41 and the debt hasn’t been paid” as he confirmed the bankruptcy petition.
Liam Brooke did not attend, and was not represented at the hearing.
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