Three former directors of doomed delivery firm City Link which left thousands of people redundant over the Christmas period have been charged with criminal offences, the Government has confirmed.
David Smith, Robert Peto and Thomas Wright are each being prosecuted for offences of failing to notify the Secretary of State over plans to make redundancies.
The parcels company was placed into administration at 7pm on Christmas Eve last year following several years of losses.
For many of the 2,727 staff and 1,000 contractors, the first confirmation that their jobs and livelihoods were at risk came from reports in the media on Christmas Day.
A Department for Business, Innovation and Skills spokesman said: "We can confirm that criminal proceedings have been commenced against David Smith, Robert Peto and Thomas Wright.
"They are charged with offences contrary to section 194 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992. We will not be commenting until the criminal proceedings have been concluded."
Administrators announced 2,356 redundancies on New Year's Eve saying that an offer made for the company had not been acceptable.
Union bosses said failure to secure jobs at City Link was "a disgraceful and cynical betrayal".
Jon Moulton, the founder of Better Capital which acquired City Link before it went bust, later told MPs he had done everything to save the company.
He told a joint meeting of the Scottish Affairs and Business Select Committees earlier this year that his company lost £20 million after City Link went out of business.
Mr Moulton said the intention was to tell staff on Boxing Day that the company was going into administration, timing which was "less evil", but rumours started circulating on Christmas Eve.
"Absolutely no-one wanted the announcement to be made on Christmas Day," he told MPs.
A damning report published after City Link's collapse exposed how company insolvencies do not offer enough protection to workers.
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