Muhammad Rais, 42, from Leicester, has been disqualified for nine years for exaggerating the turnover of his takeaway business to claim £31,000 of Bounce Back Loans to which the company was not entitled.
And Lee Mankelow, 42, of Arnold, Nottinghamshire has been disqualified as a director for six years, after claiming £50,000 from the loan scheme to support his timber supply business through the pandemic, before paying it all to a former director of the company.
The two directors received the money as part of a government scheme to support businesses that were facing hardship during the COVID outbreak.
Companies were entitled to claim Bounce Back Loans of up to 25 per cent of their 2019 turnover, to a maximum of £50,000, for the economic support of their business.
Mr Mankelow was the director of Wolf Timber Ltd, which traded as a builder/provider of timber products. The company, however, entered into liquidation in December 2020 before Wolf Timber Ltd’s insolvency triggered an investigation by the Insolvency Service.
Investigators uncovered that Mr Mankelow applied for a £50,000 Bounce Back Loan in June 2020, after the company had seen a rise in online business during COVID lockdowns.
Mr Mankelow, however, transferred the full £50,000 the day after he received the loan to a former director of the company, breaching the terms of the loan that stated that the money must be used to support the business.
Investigators found no evidence to support Mr Mankelow’s claims that the money was used to pay the wages, bonuses, dividends, and expenses of the former director who had stayed on as an employee of the company.
And Mr Rais was the sole director of Lokma BBQ Ltd in Leicester until the company went into liquidation in January 2022.
The company came to the attention of the Insolvency Service following its liquidation before investigators uncovered that Mr Rais applied for a £50,000 Bounce Back Loan, stating that the takeaway’s turnover the previous year had been £200,000.
However, Lokma BBQ’s actual turnover for 2019 had been around £74,000, resulting in the company receiving £31,000 of government-backed loans that it wasn’t entitled to.
Mr Rais has agreed with the liquidator to repay £8,000 of the money owed through monthly instalments.
The disqualifications prevent Mr Mankelow and Mr Rais from directly, or indirectly, becoming involved in the promotion, formation, or management of a company, without the permission of the court.
