It
should be a little harder these days (to do a midnight flight) than say 20 years ago.
These days, you can get disqualified from being a company director. This means you get your brother / wife / mate to front the "next company"
However, and this is a nice one which very few know about, a Director can be personally liable for debts incurred by a limited company in the few months preceeding it's failure. The idea is that if you can see trouble looming, then you should not enter into contracts etc for expenditure. I have seen this enforced. It's not cheap to do but it's damn effective in getting a "private settlement".
However, the trick in sinking a business and getting away with it is the same as it has always been: don't owe money to Customs or Revenue, and don't owe enough to any single party to make them angry enough to go after you. Stick to those simple rules and you can rip off as many people as you want, as many times as you want, and you will always get away with it.