A COMPANY at the centre of an alleged telecoms fraud has collapsed owing more than £700,000 in unpaid tax and a string of angry customers across the North of England.

Documents obtained by The Northern Echo reveal that One Cloud Solutions has gone into liquidation with debts of around £900,000.

The creditors include Her Majesty's Customer and Excise (HMRC) which is owed £700,000.

The company, previously based at the Newburn Riverside Industrial Park, in Newcastle, supplied telephone equipment and services to companies and organisations across the North-East.

Police launched an investigation into One Cloud, and another company Sumlock Electronic (North East) Ltd, after receiving complaints through Action Fraud, the national reporting centre for fraud and internet crime.

Sumlock, like One Cloud, went into liquidation earlier this year with debts of more than £3 million, including £1m owed to HMRC.

Northumbria Police's fraud unit has made several arrests, with former One Cloud director Garry Moat among those who have been interviewed.

The Northern Echo understands organisations, including charities, schools, GP surgeries, leisure centres and even a professional football club in the region have lodged complaints.

Among the allegations is that customers did not realise they were signing up to a lease agreement with a separate company and that, in some cases, the leases cost more than the value of the goods supplied.

Michelle Armstrong is the chief executive of Crook-based charity 2D, which provides support to voluntary groups.

She said the charity was owed more than £5,500 in rebates that One Cloud agreed to make when it took over contracts for supply of a photocopier and phone system. The charity also claims it paid more than £11,000 for a battery backup power supply box which can be bought for less than £100.

Ms Armstrong said: "Personally, it took me to rock bottom. I felt awful that I had taken the charity through this."

Two directors visited after a complaint was submitted, however Ms Armstrong said they just pointed out that the charity had signed a contract.

The charity has spoken to police about its dealings with One Cloud.

Other customers are trying to recover tens of thousands of pounds through the civil courts.

Garry Moat told the Echo he was an investor in the two companies, One Cloud and Sumlock, and that was the limit of his involvement.

He said: "I'm helping police with some enquiries that they have. As far as I'm concerned there has been a lot of mud thrown by people, but I was just an investor with both companies.

"I've lost a colossal amount of money in both companies and it has been a very challenging situation."

Mr Moat, who lives in Corbridge, Northumberland, was the chief executive and a director of BNS Telecom, which was sold in 2010 for more than £10m.

He, along with wife Joanne, was listed as a director of another communications company, Hexham-based River Telecom Ltd, which went into administration in March this year.

Calls to One Cloud Solutions are now picked up by Breeze Communications, based at the Camperdown Industrial Estate, in Newcastle.

Breeze director David Nethercott confirmed he was a former employee of One Cloud and had taken on the company's customers.

None of the directors involved in One Cloud were connected to his company, he said.

"I set up Breeze Communications in July this year. One Cloud was still trading at that time. Breeze Communications is a separate entity," he added.

One Cloud is being wound up by Doncaster-based liquidators Absolute Recovery. The company declined to comment on the case.

- Were you customers of One Cloud or Sumlock? Call Joe Willis on 01325-505067 or email joe.willis@nne.co.uk