Syedur Rahman, of business crime solicitors Rahman Ravelli, believes there could be further developments as investigations continue into the company's collapse.
The collapsed cake and coffee chain Patisserie Valerie is to see another 14 of its cafés close, with the loss of up to 100 jobs.
Irish private equity firm Causeway Capital, which acquired the brand and its 96 branches from administrators KPMG in February, said that it had made what it called the "difficult decision" after a review of the company.
When Causeway took on the business, KPMG had already closed 71 loss-making sites under the Patisserie Valerie and Druckers brands. This led to 920 redundancies.
Patisserie Holdings, which was founded in 1926, was acquired by Luke Johnson, the serial investor, in 2006. He floated it in 2014.
But the company went into administration in January after the discovery of a £94M black hole in its accounts. It was found to have overstated its cash position by £30M and not disclosed overdrafts of nearly £10M.
In June, five people were arrested and questioned over alleged accounting fraud at the company. The firm's former finance director, Chris Marsh, had already been arrested and released on bail.
The latest Patisserie Valerie closures are just the latest chapter in an increasingly sorry saga – and there may be more chapters to follow. With such a large-scale investigation currently being conducted by the SFO, it would be little or no surprise if other regulatory bodies such as the Financial Reporting Council and Financial Conduct Authority also become involved.
Read the in-depth guide: The Financial Conduct Authority: How It Functions And How Best To Respond To It.
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