Director disqualification and bounce back loans

Two directors of Scholars Academy Ltd were disqualified for 11 and 10 years respectively.

Scholars was incorporated in December 2018 and purported to be a specialist tuition centre for children aged 5 to 17. A Bounce Back Loan was applied for in May 2020 and one of the directors provided an estimate of company turnover at £200,000.

Whilst companies were permitted to apply for a Bounce Back Loan (BBL) based on projected income, the Insolvency Service investigation found that Scholars’ bank statements showed maximum monthly income of just £640 – meaning a likely annual turnover of approximately £7,700. The minimum threshold for a Bounce Back Loan was £8,000, meaning that the company was not in fact eligible as it didn’t get over the threshold.

• Scholars received a Bounce Back Loan of £50,000 in May 2020 and then went into voluntary liquidation in January 2021.
• at the time of liquidation, the directors listed the company’s liabilities to the bank as £7,000 – but the bank later notified the liquidator that it was owed £50,000 by the company due to the Bounce Back Loan.

The Insolvency Service investigation found that as well as fraudulently inflating the company’s turnover, the directors has used the Bounce Back Loan funds to make monthly payments to four individuals – one of whom was a relation. The investigation found that none of the payments to the recipients were for genuine business purposes.

One of the directors was also the sole director of another educational company, Progress First Ltd, which had been incorporated in January 2018. He fraudulently declared in the application form that annual turnover in 2019 was £200,000, when Progress’ bank statements showed that turnover was £38,973. The company obtained a Bounce Back Loan of £50,000 when it would only have been entitled to a Bounce Back Loan of £9,927 had the true turnover been given.  Regular payments were made to three individuals and no evidence has been produced to show that these payments were genuine business expenditure.

One of the directors has since repaid £35,000 to the liquidator to settle claims against him for the Progress Bounce Back Loan funds, and a further £25,000 in settlement of claims against both directors in relation to the BBL taken out by Scholars.

The Secretary of State accepted disqualification undertakings from both directors, with bounce back loan director disqualification bans of 11  and 10 years pursuant to the terms of the Company Director Disqualification Act 1986.

The disqualification undertakings prevent both from directly, or indirectly, becoming involved in the promotion, formation, or management of a company, without the permission of the court under section 17 of the Company Director Disqualification Act 1896. They were directors banned over covid loans.

Mike Smith, Chief Investigator for The Insolvency Service said:

• Government loan schemes have provided a lifeline to millions of businesses across the UK – preserving their existence during the pandemic and protecting millions of jobs. As these cases show, The Insolvency Service will not hesitate to investigate and use its powers against those who appear to have abused the COVID-19 support schemes.
• It is important to note that all directors have a duty to ensure their companies maintain proper accounting records. The use of a Bounce Back Loan must be for the economic benefit the business and not for personal use. Failure to account for how a Bounce Back Loan was used, or using it for personal payments, can result in being disqualified as a director or the extension of bankruptcy restrictions.

N&S Solutions Ltd was a cleaning services company incorporated in June 2018. It had one director. The company entered administration in August 2019 with debts of around £150,000. It later entered liquidation on 23 June 2020.

• the Insolvency Service investigation found that the director used N&S Solutions to apply for a Bounce Back Loan of £30,000 on 15 May 2020. This was despite the company being insolvent and had already ceased to trade, meaning there was no prospect of repayment of the loan.
• the loan was used to pay £29,940 to a single trade creditor and other creditors with sizable debts were ignored – as was the company’s HMRC tax liabilities which totalled £94,000.

The director gave a disqualification undertaking preventing him from acting as a director for 9 years pursuant to the terms of the Company Director Disqualification Act 1986. This was another example of directors banned over covid loans.

Two individuals ran Chunky Chicken, a local Nottingham takeaway until December 2019, when they sold the business.

• however, one of the individuals applied for a government-backed Bounce Back Loan of £50,000 in the business name after the sale of the company.
• the money was used to repay a business creditor and who was also a relative.

Both individuals made themselves bankrupt on 24 May 2021, saying they had debts of over £200,000 that included the Bounce Back Loan.

Both individuals have now signed bankruptcy undertakings that extend their bankruptcy restrictions for 8 years. This means they are limited to what credit they can access, as well as not being able to act as a company director without the permission of the court.

A publican ran the Royal Oak pub in Nuneaton. At the start of the pandemic in March 2020, the pub closed for lockdown and he entered into an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) and began to claim Universal Credit. The pub later reopened and traded for a few hours a week until it finally closed in November 2020 due to the reintroduction of COVID-19 restrictions.

• in November 2020, the publican received a Bounce Back Loan of £19,000. A day later, the supervisor of his IVA terminated the agreement, and confirmed to the Insolvency Service that he had had only made 2 repayments.
• as a result of the Insolvency Service investigation, it was established that the publican transferred nearly £17,000 of the Bounce Back Loan into his personal bank accounts, which he then paid over £4,100 to his ex-girlfriend and spent £1,120 on online gambling.
• nearly £3,500 was withdrawn in cash and cannot be accounted for. Only £6,500 was allocated as wages for himself to cover the period when he wasn’t working.

Separately, he also received £1,100 in business rates refunds in December 2020, just weeks prior to declaring himself bankrupt. He received a further £10,500 in subsequent weeks but failed to disclose this to the Official Receiver.

The publican signed a bankruptcy restriction undertaking that extends the duration of his bankruptcy for 8 years, starting on 18 December 2021.

The individual from Rotherham, has been disqualified as a director for 11 years from August 2022 after he took £200,000 of taxpayers’ money through the Bounce Back Loan scheme that his companies were not entitled to.

He was director of four companies that provided services to construction projects

One of the four companies was listed as dormant with Companies House by January 2020. Of the other three, their company accounts ending January 2020 indicated turnover ranging from just £635 to £3,400.

Despite this the individual, who was sole director of each company by 2020, stated on the application forms that turnover was between £200,000 and £320,000 for each company. This allowed him to secure four Bounce Back Loans for the full £50,000 permitted under the scheme.

He spent £174,000 repaying a personal loan to his former partner, which was also a breach of the loans’ conditions as they could only be spent on legitimate business expenditure.

In February 2021, he sought to dissolve all four companies. This was blocked due to the outstanding loans being identified, and instead the companies were placed in liquidation. The Liquidator has begun recovery action.

The Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy accepted a disqualification undertaking after he admitted obtaining £200,000 in government Bounce Back Loans, the maximum amount available of £50,000 per company, by overstating company turnover, then using the funds obtained to repay a personal loan and not for the economic benefit of the company.

The disqualification ban by the secretary of state is effective from 4 August 2022 and lasts for 11 years.

The disqualification undertaking prevents him from directly, or indirectly, becoming involved in the promotion, formation or management of a company, without the permission of the court under the terms of the Company Director Disqualification Act 1986. This was another example of directors banned over covid loans.

The 3 banned individuals were were directors of three separate companies that applied for Bounce Back Loans. But each caused their companies to abuse the Covid support scheme, which was only uncovered after the companies entered into liquidation.

Enquiries uncovered that one director received the maximum £50,000 Bounce Back Loan having submitted an application that declared a turnover of £225,000. However, the banned director grossly exaggerated the company’s turnover, which was closer to £24,000 and this would have only entitled a £6,000 loan.

Another individual was a sole director of another takeaway in Liverpool city centre. He caused the company to apply for a Bounce Back Loan and secured £50,000 claiming a turnover of £200,000. Investigators, however, found that the company’s actual turnover was closer to £100,000, which should have only entitled the eatery to circa £26,000.

The third director applied for a £50,000 Bounce Back Loan. But instead of using the loan for the economic benefit of the company, he caused the company to transfer up to £37,500 to his personal account.

The 3 restaurateurs are now banned from directly, or indirectly, becoming involved in the promotion, formation or management of a company, without the permission of the court.

For further information on these cases, see the full report from the Government website detailing the reasons for director disqualification for Bounce Back Loan abuse.

The director from Essex has been given an 11-year ban for falsely claiming a £50,000 Bounce Back Loan for his property development firm. He was the sole director a company incorporated in August 2015 and traded as a property development company based in Essex until it went into liquidation in November 2021.

In May 2020, the director applied for a Bounce Back Loan for the company stating the company’s 2019 turnover as £600,000. This led to the company receiving the maximum £50,000 loan.

Bounce Back Loans were a government scheme to help support businesses through the Covid-19 pandemic. Under the rules of the scheme, companies could apply for loans of between £2,000 and £50,000, up to a maximum of 25% of their turnover for 2019.

But the company went into liquidation in November 2021, owing around £388,800, which triggered an investigation by the Insolvency Service.

Investigators discovered that the company’s turnover for the years ending August 2017, 2018 and 2019 had been nil, and the company had not been entitled to the £50,000 Bounce Back Loan. The full amount of the loan was still owed when the company went into liquidation.

The Secretary of State accepted a disqualification undertaking from the director after he did not dispute that he had caused the company to breach the condition of the government’s Bounce Back Loan scheme by overstating turnover in order to claim £50,000 to which the company was not entitled.

The disqualification ban began on 2 November 2022 and lasts for a period of 11 years. The ban prevents him from directly or indirectly becoming involved in the promotion, formation or management of a company, without the permission of the court. In order for him to become a director again he would have to make an application under section 17 of the Company Director Disqualification Act 1986.

The liquidator of the company is working to recover the full amount of the loan from the former director.

Car dealer, IT consultant, and building contractor separately abused almost £120,000 of the government-backed covid support loans between them.

Three directors were banned for a total of 30 years after separate investigations found they had abused the Bounce Back Loan scheme during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Director No 1 was the sole director of a company in Birmingham. In May 2020 he applied for a Bounce Back loan of £50,000 for his used car dealership.

Bounce Back Loans were a government scheme to help keep businesses afloat during the Covid-19 pandemic. Under the rules of the scheme, companies could apply for loans of up to 25% of their 2019 turnover, up to a maximum of £50,000. All loan money had to be used for the economic benefit of the business.

Director No 1 stated in his loan application that the company’s turnover for 2019 was around £287,500, and received the maximum £50,000 loan for the company. But the business went into liquidation in August 2021 owing £53,500, including the full amount of the Bounce Back Loan, which triggered an investigation by the Insolvency Service.

Investigators discovered that the company’s turnover in 2019 had been just over £2,500 and the company’s bank statements for that year show no income or trading activity, meaning the business had not been entitled to a loan.

The company accounts also showed no evidence that the money had been used for the economic benefit of the company. A compensation order of £50,000 is now being sought, to repay the loan provider.

Director 2 was sole director of an IT consultancy which applied for a £24,000 Bounce Back Loan for her company in September 2020. The business went into liquidation in February 2022, owing £55,800, including the full amount of the loan, and triggering an Insolvency Service Investigation.

Investigators discovered that Director 2 had transferred £23,400 to herself between October 2020 and January 2022, just before the company folded, with no evidence that the money had been used for the benefit of the company.

Director 3 was sole director of a construction company. He applied for a £41,000 Bounce Back Loan for his building company, after stating on the application that the business’s turnover in 2019 had been £166,000. Under the rules of the scheme, if a business began trading after 1 January 2019, the estimated annual turnover could be used.

When Midi Construction Ltd went into liquidation in December 2021 with debts of around £46,000, including the full amount of the loan and almost £5,000 owed to HMRC, it triggered an investigation by the Insolvency Service.

Insolvency Service Investigators found that as the building company had only begun trading in June 2019, accounts showed that its turnover for the year ending 31 May 2020 was around £45,500. The company therefore received around £29,600 more than it was entitled to under the rules of the loan scheme.

They also discovered that payments of more than £39,700 had been made from the company’s bank account during a three-week period between October and November 2020, without any evidence to show that they were for the economic benefit of the company.

The Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy accepted disqualification undertakings from the three directors after they did not dispute that they had caused their companies to either:

• provide misleading information to a bank to obtain a Bounce Back Loan when they knew or ought to have known that their business was not eligible for a loan of the amount claimed
• and/or not provide evidence to show that payments from the company bank accounts were used for the economic benefit of the company.

Two directors were banned for 11 years and another for 8 years.

The disqualifications prevent them from directly or indirectly becoming involved in the promotion, formation or management of a company, without the permission of the court.

Two co-directors of a purported specialist tuition centre have been disqualified by the Insolvency Service for 11 and 10 years respectively.

The company was incorporated in December 2018 and purported to be a specialist tuition centre for children aged 5 to 17. One of the directors applied for a Bounce Back Loan in May 2020 and provided an estimate of company turnover at £200,000.

Although it was permitted for a company to apply for a Bounce Back Loan (BBL) based on projected income in certain circumstances, the Insolvency Service investigation found that the company’s ’ bank statements showed maximum monthly income of just £640, suggesting that annual turnover was a maximum of £7,680. This meant the business would not have been eligible for a Bounce Back Loan, as it did not meet the £8,000 minimum annual turnover threshold.

Despite this, the company received a BBL of £50,000 in May 2020 and subsequently went into voluntary liquidation in January 2021. At the time of liquidation, the directors listed the company’s liabilities to the bank as £7,000, but the bank later notified the liquidator that it was owed £50,000 by the company due to the BBL.

The Insolvency Service investigation found that as well as fraudulently inflating the company’s turnover, the directors used the BBL funds to make monthly payments to four individuals.

All four, one of whom was related to Ashraf, began receiving £2,000 per month following receipt of the BBL funds. Although the directors claimed that these payments were genuine business expenses, there was no evidence to support this.

Separately, one director was also sole director of another educational company, which had been incorporated in January 2018.

That director applied for a BBL in May 2020 and fraudulently declared in the application form that annual turnover in 2019 was £200,000, when Progress’ bank statements showed that turnover was £38,973.

This resulted in the second company obtaining a BBL of £50,000 when it would only have been entitled to a BBL of £9,927.

As with the first company , the director claimed that the BBL funds were used to pay for company expenses. Regular payments were made to three individuals and no evidence has been produced to show that these payments were genuine business expenditure.

The director has since repaid £35,000 to the liquidator to settle liquidator claims against him for the the BBL funds, and a further £25,000 in settlement of claims against both directors in relation to the BBL taken out by company No 1.

The Secretary of State accepted disqualification undertakings from both directors, one banned for 11 years, and the other for 10 years.

The disqualification undertakings prevent both from directly, or indirectly, becoming involved in the promotion, formation, or management of a company, without the permission of the court.

A spokesperson for the Insolvency Service said:  

We can confirm that the Insolvency Service has commenced director disqualification proceedings against Alexander (Lex) Greensill to have him disqualified from running or controlling companies for a period of up to 15 years in respect of his conduct as a director of Greensill Capital (UK) Limited and Greensill Limited.

As this matter is now a live case before the court it is not appropriate to comment further. 

Further information: 

Greensill Capital (UK) Limited and Greensill Capital Management Company (UK) Limited both entered into administration on 8 March 2021.  Greensill Limited entered into Creditors’ Voluntary Liquidation on 30 July 2021. Greensill Capital Securities Limited entered into Creditors’ Voluntary Liquidation on 24 June 2022. 

Greensill Capital Pty Limited was the parent company to the Greensill Group of which Greensill Capital (UK) Limited and Greensill Limited formed a part.  It entered into administration in Australia on 9 March 2021 and then subsequently into liquidation in Australia on 22 April 2021. The Court can take account of a director’s overseas activity under the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986.  

Officials at the Insolvency Service have issued disqualification proceedings on behalf of the Secretary of State for Business and Trade in accordance with her powers under the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986.The application to court has been made in the public interest. 

From the Insolvency Service Website.

A former electrician has had his bankruptcy restrictions extended for 11 years after claiming a £45,000 Bounce Back Loan to support his business during the pandemic, despite not being self-employed at the time. 

Andrei Adrian Moise, 35, from Mitcham in Surrey, received a £45,000 Bounce Back Loan in July 2020 to support his role as a self-employed electrician. 

Under the rules of the scheme, self-employed people had to have been working as a sole trader on 1 March 2020 to be eligible for a loan. 

However, when Moise became bankrupt in May 2023, the Official Receiver discovered that he had ceased being self-employed in 2016. 

Bounce Back Loans were supposed to be used for the economic benefit of the business, but Moise used the money for other purposes including some which was paid to third parties. 

 Mitzi Mace, Official Receiver at the Insolvency Service, said: 

Andrei Moise abused a government scheme which was designed to help businesses survive one of the toughest times for traders.  

The Insolvency Service will always act to protect the public from those who take advantage of taxpayers’ money. 

Mr Moise will be subject to tough restrictions for 11 years which will protect the public from further abuse. 

Bankruptcy restrictions include being prevented from acting as a company director without permission from the court, being unable to borrow more than £500 without declaring you are subject to restrictions and being barred from holding some roles of responsibilities, such as a charity trustee, school governor or certain posts in public sector organisations.  

The restrictions usually last for 12 months – the duration of a standard bankruptcy – but if the Official Receiver thinks a bankrupt has been dishonest, they can apply to the court to extend the restrictions through a Bankruptcy Restrictions Order (BRO) for between two and 15 years.  

The bankrupt may instead agree to sign a Bankruptcy Restrictions Undertaking (BRU), which has the same effect as an Order, but means the matter will not go to court. 

The Secretary of State for Business and Trade accepted an 11-year Bankruptcy Restrictions Undertaking from Andrei Moise on 21 May 2024. 

From the Insolvency Service Website.

The former owner of a Derbyshire curry house who was sent to prison for Covid fraud has been ordered to repay more than £36,000.

Syed Hussain was jailed for 18 months and banned as a company director for three years in August 2023 after admitting charges of fraud by false representation and an offence under the Companies Act.

Hussain fraudulently secured a £50,000 Bounce Back Loan in May 2020 while serving a suspended sentence for breaching fire safety regulations at the former Moja Indian restaurant in Matlock.

The 24-year-old then dissolved his Magic of Spice Ltd company on the same day the funds appeared in his bank account.

Hussain, of Provident Street, Derby, was ordered to pay £36,200 during a confiscation hearing at Derby Crown Court on Friday 17 May.

Mark Stephens, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said:

Syed Hussain’s cynical actions in exploiting a taxpayer-backed scheme introduced at a time of national emergency were completely unacceptable.

His behaviour in failing to notify the bank when he was applying to have his company struck off the register was equally calculated and pre-planned.

The Insolvency Service will not tolerate deliberate abuse of the public purse which is why Hussain now faces a financial penalty to go with the time he has spent behind bars.

Hussain applied for the maximum permitted £50,000 loan in May 2020, claiming on the application form that the turnover of Magic of Spice was £200,000. He later said putting this figure down was a mistake.

Hussain said that he had decided to close down the company based on Dale Road in Matlock when he made the application as it had been struggling for the previous year.

The loan application was made by Hussain when he was only months into a suspended sentence for breaching fire safety regulations at his restaurant.

Hussain transferred £30,000 of the loan to two family members who used the money for their own personal spending.

A further £10,000 was used for personal expenses such as hotels and car hire. No evidence was provided to the Insolvency Service of the money being used for business purposes.

Hussain also made no repayments to the loan despite this being a condition of the scheme.

Derby Crown Court gave Hussain three months to pay the money or face an additional 18 months in prison. Hussain would still owe the full amount ordered in the event he fails to comply and is returned to prison.

From the Insolvency Service Website.

A man who cheated taxpayers out of £50,000 by using the funds from a Covid loan to replace his car has been sentenced for fraud.  

James Todd, 37, was sentenced to 18 months in prison, suspended for two years, when he appeared at Sheffield Crown Court on Monday 20 May. 

Todd was also ordered to complete 240 hours of unpaid work and pay compensation of £2,000 at a rate of £100 a month. 

David Snasdell, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said: 

James Todd invented the turnover for an entirely fictitious business that was not trading when the pandemic began as he was in full-time employment.

Todd then used the loan entirely for personal purposes, upgrading his car and selling his previous vehicle within just a few weeks.

This was taxpayers’ money and the Insolvency Service will not hesitate to take action against those who have so flagrantly stolen from the public purse. 

Todd, of Milnrow View, Sheffield, applied for the £50,000 Bounce Back Loan in July 2020, claiming his Pro Detailing business had an annual turnover of £255,000. 

However, Insolvency Service investigations revealed that Pro Detailing was not trading and that Todd was actually in full-time employment both at the start of the pandemic and when he made his loan application. 

Todd transferred £32,500 of the funds to his own personal account within just six days of receiving the loan. He also withdrew £1,250 and transferred a further £16,500 to associates in the same period. 

Analysis of Todd’s bank account by the Insolvency Service revealed he made two payments totalling £11,929 to a car finance company for his BMW and sold his old vehicle in early August for £5,220. 

Todd accepted a 10-year Bankruptcy Restrictions Undertaking in June 2022, restricting him from being able to borrow more than £500 without disclosing his bankrupt status. 

The bankruptcy restrictions also mean he cannot act as a company director without permission from a court. 

From the Insolvency Service Website.

A London-based builder has been disqualified as a company director for ten years after he overstated his company’s turnover to claim the maximum Bounce Back Loan during the pandemic and then failed to show the money had been spent on his business. 

Marcel Ion, 39, from Bromley, was the sole director of Mavion Group Ltd, a construction business which was registered at Cornshaw Road, Dagenham. 

In June 2020, Ion applied for a £50,000 Bounce Back Loan on his company’s behalf, stating that the business had a turnover of £205,410.  

But Mavion Group Ltd went into liquidation in August 2022, owing more than £180,000 – including the full amount of the loan – and triggering an investigation by the Insolvency Service. 

Lawrence Zussman, Deputy Head of Company Investigations at the Insolvency Service, said: 

Marcel Ion blatantly took advantage of a government scheme to support businesses when they were facing huge challenges posed by the pandemic. 

His lengthy ban shows the Insolvency Service will pursue those who seek to abuse taxpayers’ money and remove them from the business arena.

Investigators found that the company had made sales of around £82,900 between January and December 2019, according to the business’s bank account, proving that Ion had exaggerated the company’s turnover on the loan application by more than double the actual amount. 

They also discovered that five days after the £50,000 loan entered the company’s bank account in July 2020, Ion began to move money into his personal bank account. More than £35,360 was transferred to his personal account by the end of April 2021. Investigators found no evidence that these payments were for the economic benefit of the company. 

Under the rules of the scheme, companies could apply for a loan of between £2,000 and a maximum of £50,000. For companies whose business had started trading before 2019, the amount of loan they were eligible for was based on their turnover for the 2019 calendar year. 

Any money loaned under the scheme had to be used for the economic benefit of the company. 

The Secretary of State for Business and Trade accepted a 10-year disqualification undertaking from Ion, which began on 1 May 2024. It prevents him from becoming involved in the promotion, formation or management of a company, without the permission of the court. 

From the Insolvency Service Website.

The husband-and-wife directors of a Cornish estate agents have been disqualified from being company directors for a combined 12 years after admitting their role in Covid Bounce Back Loan abuse. 

David Elderkin, 56, overstated the annual turnover of Fowey River Limited by more than £180,000 to secure the £50,000 loan which was the maximum amount businesses were entitled to under the scheme. 

Money from the loan was then transferred into his personal account, used to pay off a loan to his father and given to a connected company. 

Elderkin was supported by his wife, Jennifer Elderkin, 55, who allowed the payments to be made. 

David Elderkin, of Carnon Downs, Truro, signed a disqualification undertaking banning him from being a company director for eight years. Jennifer Elderkin, of the same address, signed a four-year undertaking. 

Kevin Read, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said: 

David Elderkin was responsible for applying for more Covid support than his business was entitled to and then using the funds for his personal benefit.

His wife Jennifer Elderkin aided her husband’s misconduct by allowing the money to not be used for the economic benefit of their Fowey River business.

Tackling abuse of the Bounce Back Loan scheme is a key priority for the Insolvency Service and the behaviour of the Elderkins represents a significant breach of the standards that are expected of company directors.

David Elderkin successfully applied for the £50,000 Bounce Back Loan in May 2020, claiming the annual turnover of Fowey River was £250,000. 

Companies could apply for a single loan of up to 25% of their turnover from 2019, with a maximum loan limit of £50,000 set under the rules of the scheme. 

Investigations by the Insolvency Service revealed the real turnover of the business was £68,682, meaning the company was entitled to a loan of just over £17,000. 

Money loaned to companies could only be used for the economic benefit of the business. 

However, £10,000 was repaid to Elderkin’s father and more than £10,000 was paid into two credit cards in the name of Elderkin. 

A further £10,000 was paid to another company the Elderkins were until recently directors of. 

Fowey River went into liquidation in April 2021 having made no loan repayments. 

The Secretary of State for Business and Trade accepted disqualification undertakings from the pair, and their bans both started on Wednesday 1 May.  

The undertakings prevent them from being involved in the promotion, formation or management of a company, without the permission of the court. 

From the Insolvency Service Website.

The director of a fruit and veg retailer who improperly invested more than half of a Covid loan on the stock market when it should have been used for his business has been disqualified and ordered to pay the money back. 

Emra Kayam, 35, was handed a seven-year directorship disqualification order at the High Court in London on Tuesday 30 April. 

Kayam, of Kings Road, London, was also ordered to pay compensation of £37,460 within two weeks. 

Peter Smith, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said: 

Emra Kayam rashly invested taxpayers’ money on the stock market, only withdrawing the funds from the platform when he lost more than £2,000 within days.

Kayam’s actions in exploiting the Bounce Back Loan Scheme will not be tolerated which is why he has been banned as a director until 2031 and ordered to repay the money he secured from the public purse.

The disqualification also sends a message to directors that you cannot dissolve your company in an attempt to evade sanctions. 

Kayam received the £35,000 Bounce Back Loan in June 2020 for his Kayalar Limited business. 

Under the rules of the scheme, companies could only use the money from the loans for the economic benefit of the business and not for personal use. 

However, within days Kayam had transferred £15,920 to his own personal account, which he said was to repay loans from his friends. 

Kayam also transferred £19,000 to online investor trading broker platforms during June and July 2020. 

After losing more than £2,000 on the platforms, Kayam withdrew the remaining funds and transferred £16,600 to his personal account. 

Kayalar was dissolved in November 2020 with the £35,000 loan unpaid. 

Kayam’s compensation order covers the £35,000 he secured, plus interest at the rate in the loan agreement. 

The disqualification order prevents him from becoming involved in the promotion, formation or management of a company, without the permission of the court. 

From the Insolvency Service Website.

A cleaner based in North London who falsely claimed a £50,000 Covid loan before making herself bankrupt has been given a suspended prison sentence.

Anna Emilia Dalecka, 48, of Devonshire Road, Enfield, was sentenced to 18 months in prison, suspended for two years, when she appeared at Snaresbrook Crown Court on 3 May 2024.

She was also given a three month curfew and must complete 300 hours of unpaid work.

Julie Barnes, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said:

Anna Dalecka took advantage of a government scheme designed to keep businesses afloat during one of the toughest times for UK businesses.

She abused that support by wildly overstating her turnover to claim more money than her business was entitled to.

Her sentence shows that the Insolvency Service will bring those who abuse public money to justice.

Dalecka claimed to be a self-employed bookkeeper, trading from her Enfield home, when she applied for a Bounce Back Loan for her business in August 2020.

Under the rules of the scheme, businesses could apply for loans of up to £50,000, depending on their 2019 turnover. Dalecka claimed on the application that her turnover was £220,000.

But in March 2021 she petitioned for her own bankruptcy, which led to an investigation by the Insolvency Service.

Investigators discovered that in 2019 Dalecka was actually working as a self-employed cleaner and her turnover was around £4,000, meaning she had overstated the amount by approximately £216,000 to claim the maximum loan.

The investigation found that Dalecka had exhausted the loan by December 2020 – less than four months after it had arrived in her company bank account.

She had paid around £20,000 of the money into her personal bank account and transferred another £10,000 to accounts in Poland.

Money was also paid to third parties in London, rather than being used to support her business, as required by the rules of the loan scheme.

From the Insolvency Service Website.