Tag: Insolvency Service

The press release issued by the Insolvency Service on 29 January 2025.

Director disqualified for Bounce Back Loan abuse.

• Azizullrahman Akbari overstated his company’s turnover when he applied for a £50,000 Bounce Back Loan – the maximum amount businesses could receive under the scheme
• His New Watan Bakery Limited company did not have a turnover of more than £200,000 as he falsely claimed
• Akbari has been banned as a company director until January 2035 following investigations by the Insolvency Service

The former boss of a west London bakery who overstated his company’s turnover to secure a maximum-value Covid loan has been banned from acting as a director for 10 years.

Azizullrahman Akbari, 60, obtained a £50,000 Bounce Back Loan just weeks into the pandemic, claiming the turnover for his New Watan Bakery Limited company was more than £200,000.

In reality, the company, which ran the Watan Bakery on South Road in Southall, never had such a high turnover.

Elizabeth Pigney, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said:

Azizullrahman Akbari exaggerated his company’s turnover to secure a £50,000 Bounce Back Loan, the most businesses were entitled to under the rules of the scheme.

From our analysis of the accounts, the company did not deserve anywhere near this amount.

Tackling Bounce Back Loan misconduct remains a key priority for the Insolvency Service and we will continue to take action against directors like Akbari who made false declarations when applying for financial support from the government.

New Watan Bakery began trading in June 2016, with Akbari as its sole director.

Akbari, of The Broadway, Southall, applied for a Bounce Back Loan in May 2020, declaring his company had a turnover of £214,010.

Businesses established before the start of January 2019 could apply for a Bounce Back Loan of up to a quarter of their annual turnover, with a maximum amount of £50,000.

Insolvency Service analysis of the company’s accounts revealed a turnover of £62,584 for the period up until the end of June 2019.

For the period ending June 2020, the turnover was smaller at £52,370.

New Watan Bakery entered liquidation in July 2023 owing more than £53,000.

The Secretary of State for Business and Trade accepted a disqualification undertaking from Akbari, and his ban started on Wednesday 29 January.

The undertaking prevents him from being involved in the promotion, formation or management of a company, without the permission of the court.

A separate company now runs the bakery. Akbari is not listed as a director of this company.

The press release issued by the Insolvency Service on 17 January 2025.

Bankrupt ex-private hire driver exaggerated his turnover by more than £188,000 to falsely claim a £50,000 Bounce Back Loan.

• Huseyin Houssein gave false business information to claim the maximum Covid loan
• He overstated the turnover of his private hire business by more than 17 times to claim over £47,000 more than he was entitled to receive
• Houssein is now subject to 11 years of tough restrictions which include being prevented from acting as a company director without the court’s permission

A former London minicab driver is subject to 11 years of stringent sanctions after the Official Receiver found he abused the Covid loan scheme to claim over £47,000 more than his business was entitled to.

Huseyin Houssein, 55, a former private hire driver from Nash Road in Edmonton, North London, applied for a £50,000 Bounce Back Loan in August 2020.

He stated in the application that his business had a £200,000 turnover during the previous year, enabling him to claim the maximum loan of £50,000.

But Houssein was made bankrupt in February 2024 and the Official Receiver overseeing his bankruptcy discovered the actual turnover for the private hire business in the year ending 31 March 2020 had actually been £11,446. The amount he would actually have been entitled to was just £2,861.

Victoria Prime, Official Receiver at the Insolvency Service, said:

Huseyin Houssein used false information to claim money that was designed to support businesses through the pandemic.

He took more than £47,000 of taxpayers’ money that he was not entitled to.

The Insolvency Service takes the abuse of public money seriously and I’m pleased that these lengthy restrictions will help to protect the public from further financial harm.

The Official Receiver, who has a duty to investigate the cause of a bankruptcy, discovered that Houssein spent the £50,000 between October 2020, when the money arrived in the firm’s bank account, and May 2021. The money was not used to support his business.

Under the rules of the Bounce Back Loan scheme, businesses could claim up to 25% of their 2019 turnover, up to a maximum of £50,000.

Houssein signed a Bankruptcy Restrictions Undertaking in which he did not dispute that he had given false information to claim a £50,000 Bounce Back Loan to which he was not fully entitled.

He also did not dispute that he had failed to use the money for the economic benefit of his business – a further breach of the loan scheme rules.

Houssein must abide by the restrictions, which extend the terms of his original bankruptcy – usually a 12-month period – for another 11 years.

They prevent him from acting as a company director without permission from the court, and from borrowing more than £500 without declaring that he is subject to the sanctions. The restrictions also prevent him holding certain roles in public organisations.

The Secretary of State for Business and Trade accepted the undertaking on 7 January 2025. The restrictions will run until 6 January 2036.

The press release issued by the Insolvency Service on 6 January 2025.

The £30,000 loan was used to pay-off personal debts.

• Restaurant owner Ilhan Kekec was jailed last year for fraudulently securing a Covid Bounce Back Loan and applying to dissolve his business without informing creditors
• The 36-year-old overstated his company’s turnover to obtain the £30,000 loan just months into the pandemic
• Kekec will now have to pay the funds back in full or have his prison sentence extended by 18 months

A fraudster jailed for illegally obtaining a Covid Bounce Back Loan has been ordered to pay the funds back in full with interest.

Restaurant owner Ilhan Kekec overstated his company’s turnover to secure a £30,000 loan in May 2020.

The 36-year-old was jailed for two-and-a-half years in March 2024 following a trial at Isleworth Crown Court.

Kekec, of Abbotts Drive, Waltham Abbey, Essex, was ordered to repay a total of £37,426 within three months at a confiscation hearing at the same court on Friday 20 December or face an additional 18 months in prison.

He will still have to repay the loan should his prison sentence be extended.

Kekec was also ordered to pay £15,900 in costs.

Alexander Grierson, Head of Asset Recovery at the Insolvency Service, said:

Ilhan Kekec not only supplied false information to fraudulently acquire £30,000 in taxpayer funds at the start of the pandemic but then proceeded to use the loan to pay off personal debts.

This was not how the loans were supposed to be used and Kekec himself declared in his application that he would use the money for the economic benefit of his business.

Securing this confiscation order is important as it means Kekec must pay this money back in full or spend even longer in prison.

Kekec falsely claimed the turnover of his Hizirali Ltd business was £125,000 when making the application for a Bounce Back Loan in May 2020.

Hizirali was set up by Kekec to run the Derwish Kebab Restaurant inside the food court of the East Shopping Centre on Green Street in Forest Gate, London.

Kekec had traded for three years through another company, Helosh Limited, as the Derwish Restaurant on St Albans Road, Watford, before opening this second restaurant.

However, his new venture only traded for three weeks before the Covid lockdown, and he was unable to open during that period.

Kekec withdrew the Bounce Back Loan money in cash and later admitted to Insolvency Service investigators that he spent the funds on clearing personal debts.

He applied to dissolve his company in June 2020, claiming it was no longer economically viable for him to run the restaurant.

However, he deliberately failed in his statutory duty to inform his creditors within seven days of his voluntary strike-off application with Companies House.

Kekec was also banned as a company director for three years when he was sentenced for his offences earlier in the year.

Further information

• Ilhan Kekec is of Abbotts Drive, Waltham Abbey, Essex. His date of birth is 30 March 1988
• Sentenced for: Two counts of fraud by false representation, contrary to section 2 of the Fraud Act 2006 and two counts of failure of notification of a voluntary strike-off application to creditors, within the seven-day statutory period contrary to section 1006(1) of the Companies Act 2006

The press release issued by the Insolvency Service on 11 September 2024.

The two loans, worth a combined £100,000, should only have been used for the benefit of his business.

• Stanislav Genadiev used the funds from two £50,000 Covid Bounce Back Loans to pay off his own personal debts
• He also spent the money on items such as groceries and clothing
• Genadiev must pay back more than £56,000 in the next three months or go to jail for 18 months. He would still have to repay the money if he went to prison

An electrician who fraudulently claimed Covid Bounce Back Loans for his business and a separate perfume company must repay more than £56,000 or face jail after spending the cash on personal expenses and designer clothing.

Stanislav Genadiev submitted false statements to obtain the two loans worth a combined £100,000 in 2020.

Genadiev, of Faircross Avenue, Romford, was ordered to repay £56,948 at a confiscation hearing at Snaresbrook Crown Court on Monday 9 September.

The 37-year-old would be sentenced to 18 months in prison if he failed to comply with the order.

Alexander Grierson, Head of Asset Recovery at the Insolvency Service, said:

Stanislav Genadiev declared in applying for the two loans that he would use the funds for the economic benefit of his business.

Instead, he spent the money clearing his own personal debts, paying for everyday items such as groceries and even buying himself designer clothing.

This was not how the loans were supposed to be used and the Insolvency Service takes a zero-tolerance approach to those who so blatantly steal from the public purse.

During the course of our financial investigations, we uncovered assets worth almost £57,000 belonging to Genadiev, including 50% equity at his home address and land in Bulgaria. We will not hesitate to recover the remaining amount he fraudulently secured from the taxpayer if we believe he has assets that can satisfy the order.

Genadiev first applied for a £50,000 loan in July 2020, claiming his K and S Installation Ltd electrician business had a turnover of £200,000 in 2019.

Accounts for K and S seen by the Insolvency Service revealed the real turnover was closer to £85,000.

In a statement to investigators, Genadiev said he used the funds to pay off his personal debts which were unrelated to his business.

Money from the account was also used for groceries and clothing.

Genadiev made a second fraudulent £50,000 application in September 2020, this time claiming his G and S Perfumes Ltd business had an estimated turnover of £200,000.

The business, in fact, was not trading by March 2020.

Snaresbrook Crown Court gave Genadiev three months to pay the money or face 18 months in prison.

He would still owe the full amount ordered if he failed to comply and was sent to prison.

If Insolvency Service investigators uncover more assets Genadiev has or obtains in the future, he will have to pay the remaining amount he fraudulently secured.

Genadiev was also sentenced to two years in prison, suspended for two years, for the offences when he appeared at Snaresbrook Crown Court in February this year. He was also ordered to complete 150 hours of unpaid work. The sentences are separate to the subsequent confiscation order.

Further information

• Stanislav Genadiev is of Faircross Avenue, Collier Row, Romford. His date of birth is 23 February 1987
• Sentenced for: Two counts of fraud by false representation, contrary to section 2 of the Fraud Act 2006
• K and S Installation Ltd (company number 09149839)
• G and S Perfumes Ltd (company number 10365184)

The press release issued by the Insolvency Service on 23 August 2024.

Devon-based businessman is subject to 13 years of sanctions after abusing the Bounce Back Loan scheme five times during the Covid pandemic.

Matthew Littlechild claimed five separate £50,000 Bounce Back Loans for his businesses, including a Totnes pub

He overstated his turnover for each business to falsely claim a quarter of a million pounds from the scheme

Littlechild must now abide by 13 years of stringent bankruptcy restrictions which prevent him acting as a company director or borrowing more than £500 without declaring the sanctions against him

A businessman from Devon is subject to 13 years of bankruptcy restrictions after he falsely claimed Bounce Back Loans worth a total of £250,000 for five of his businesses.

Matthew Littlechild, 37, from Mount Pleasant Road in Newton Abbot, agreed to abide by the tough sanctions after the official receiver found he had overstated the turnover of five separate businesses to claim the maximum £50,000 Covid support loans for each one.

Samantha Crook, Deputy Official Receiver at the Insolvency Service, said:

Matthew Littlechild repeatedly took advantage of a scheme designed to help businesses in genuine need, and abused taxpayers’ money when the country was facing one of its toughest times.

We are pleased that these lengthy bankruptcy restrictions will help to protect the public from further financial harm.

Littlechild set up four of the businesses involved in the abuse of the scheme between April 2018 and November 2019.

They included the Matthew Littlechild Business Consultancy, an event catering business known as Pig Out, Treby Essentials home food delivery and the ML Properties cleaning business. Littlechild also began running a pub, the Sea Trout Inn in Staverton,Totnes, in November 2019.

Between May and June 2020 he applied for £50,000 Bounce Back Loans on behalf of all five businesses.

Under the rules of the scheme, businesses could borrow between £2,000 and £50,000 of government-backed loans, based on their 2019 turnover.

Littlechild received loans for his businesses worth £250,000, but later became bankrupt, in January 2024.

The official receiver investigating the cause of his bankruptcy discovered that the businessman had provided false information about the turnover of all five businesses, to claim the money.

Littlechild signed a Bankruptcy Restrictions Undertaking (BRU) which extends the restrictions imposed by his original bankruptcy until 20 August 2037.

The restrictions prevent him from acting as a company director without the court’s permission, and borrowing more than £500 without declaring he is subject to restrictions. He is also prevented from holding certain roles in public organisations.

The Secretary of State for Business and Trade accepted a Bankruptcy Restrictions Undertaking from Matthew Littlechild on 21 August 2024.

The Official Receiver continues to review potential asset realisations following the investigations.