The head of a collapsed island investment firm has been banned from acting as a company director for 12 years.

Deemster Rosen QC said the 12-year ban handed to Dr Alan Louis was the shortest period of disqualification the court could countenance for ’such grievous and morally culpable misconduct’.

He said in a judgment handed down this week: ’The nature and scale of Louis’ misconduct and the harm which he caused can be measured in losses of tens of millions to investors and creditors he put at risk.

’For a period of four years, he flouted his duties, took funds and mismanaged an insolvent business at significant expense to the public.’

Two other directors of Louis Group (IoM), Lukas Nakos and John McCauley, were disqualified from acting as directors for six years and five years respectively.

Proceedings against the three were brought by the Financial Services Authority under the Companies Officers (Disqualification) Act 2009 which provides for the ban to potentially apply worldwide.

Louis Group (IoM) launched in the island in 2002 and was wound up by order of the high court in 2013.

There were some 120 separate Louis Group companies in the Isle of Man.

Total losses of investors’ money in island-based entities in the Louis Group have been estimated at £50m by the liquidators.

South African businessman Dr Alan Louis was the dominant individual behind the Louis Group which was involved in certain forms of property dealings, the funds of which were provided by outside investors.

Around a quarter of the 700 investors were from the Isle of Man, the remainder being mainly from South Africa and the UK.

The FSA alleged that the investment fund business he established in the island was thoroughly mismanaged, especially between 2007 and 2011.

Dr Louis was able to direct the movement of large sums of money to his other companies, with no proper independent control or records of the loans and other credits involved, leading to ’serial insolvency’, the judgment states.

Louis Group (IoM) acted as a fiduciary and corporate services provider, licensed by the FSA, whose clients were largely other companies in the Louis Group.

Investors were promised high rates of return from property-backed investments. But funds were systematically transferred to other allied companies in the British Virgin Islands.

From 2006, BVI-based LG SP operated as a central pool of funds, receiving and paying out, lending and borrowing, hundreds of millions of pounds, mingled in with transactions with over 100 entities, frequently without any supporting documentation except journal entries.

Liquidators concluded Louis Group’s failure was caused not only by the fall in property values following the 2008 credit crunch, but also a range of suspect payments including money transfers totalling £8.3m apparently for the benefit of Dr Louis personally.

In the first half of 2008, some Louis Group (IoM) directors including Mr Nakos sought to better understand the finances of LG SP and then resigned.

Deemster Rosen said all of Dr Louis’ excuses were ’hollow rhetoric’ and he expressed ’no remorse whatsoever’.

Mr Nakos’ involvement was far less extensive, he said, but the ’prime movers in corporate misconduct almost always need lieutenants’. Mr McCauley’s role was significant in causing harm and made payments for Dr Louis when insolvency was obvious.

Four other Louis Group (IoM) directors have given voluntary undertakings of disqualification to the FSA.