[oncletom]

Read that comment (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7701017), it gives more insights on why it was "impossible" to get access to them.

I agree this should be a core principle: no access, no involvement. Except that when it has been decided not to give access to them, the company configuration prevented any action against the will of the CEO.

I should have resigned. This would have led to the resignation of the other engineers and the death of the project. I did not want that at first.

[josephlord]

It sounded from your original article like you were a director, in the UK I believe directors have personal legal responsibilities to ensure that the company is solvent. Without access to the accounts I would resign as a director even if I stayed as a technical lead or at least would get individual legal advice.

I'm sure that you will much wiser next time, I just want to help you maximise the benefit and was focused on an unambiguous red flag rather than the harder to spot issue of convincing people who shouldn't be trusted (and/or are out of their depth).