[Franz of Franzylvania]

The company I work for has asked a colleague to carry out traces on some aged debt accounts (former customers who have been in debt for a while, many of whom will never end up paying) which results in a "legal admin charge" of £10 being added to the debtor's account. Our manager has explicitly told him that this is because the ceo is looking to improve the share price by inflating the amount of debt owed to us. Does anyone know if this is:

- Dodgy but legal?
- Illegal?
- Not dodgy or illegal?

For further context, the company has a history of doing dodgy stuff, and I can also well believe the management would be stupid enough to tell us about their dodginess. Maybe it's common practice though, i wish I had more knowledge of these things.