FOUR men have been charged by detectives following a lengthy investigation into a York property firm which crashed leaving investors across Britain thousands of pounds out of pocket.

All four have been accused of fraudulent trading in connection with Poppleton-based Challenor Property Developments, which closed down suddenly in June 2008.

Sergeant Garry Ridler, who led the investigation, said the four, whom he declined to name, will appear before York Magistrates on Wednesday, September 22.

The Press understands the four to be Chris Douglas, 46, of Naburn Lane, Fulford; Richard Hodgson, 64, formerly of Earswick but now of Poppleton; Carl Gilfoyle, 41, of London; and Peter Carbert, 54, of Towcester.

It is understood that three other people who were arrested during the investigation – Mr Douglas’ wife, Karen, and Mr Hodgson’s wife, Muriel and son Mark – have been cleared by the investigation and do not face any charges.

Mr Douglas and Mrs Hodgson were partners at Challenor and declared themselves bankrupt, following the collapse of the business.

The Press exclusively revealed in June 2008 how Challenor, which operated out of Regency House at Westminster Business Park and employed more than 50 people, had shut down suddenly.

As soon as the story appeared on The Press website, the newspaper was inundated by a stream of calls and emails from scores of worried investors from across Britain, and even from as far away as Australia and Russia, who said they feared they had been left out of pocket by between £5,000 and £58,000.

Many said they had invested money with Challenor with the intention of investing mostly in buy-to-let properties, but now feared they had lost their investments.

In an official statement issued to some investors, Mr Douglas expressed regret “with personal heartfelt sincerity” for Challenor’s demise.

He said constant interest rate rises had had a direct knock-on effect to the business’s core buy-to-let model and then major buy-to-let lending institutions had withdrawn products from the market, forcing Challenor into a “position of compromise.”

Police launched a major investigation and several people were arrested in January 2009, during dawn raids on two York properties.

A large amount of property and documents was seized for examination during searches of the properties which involved sniffer dogs.

In November 2008, the Press reported how valuable property owned by Mr Douglas and Mrs Hodgson was going under the hammer in a bid to pay back some of the money owed to creditors.