Abbas Abo Kifayah (37), of Kingsbury, northwest London, was the sole director of Al-Amir Ltd. The company traded as a grocer and butchers from premises on Forty Avenue, Wembley, in northwest London.
The company, however, went into creditors’ voluntary liquidation in July 2021, which triggered an investigation by the Insolvency Service.
Investigators uncovered that Abbas Kifayah successfully secured a £50,000 Bounce Bank Loan for Al-Amir Ltd in August 2020. However, Mr Kifayah exaggerated the company’s turnover to secure a higher value loan than Al-Amir Ltd was entitled to.
Further inquiries found that once the £50,000 loan was placed into the company’s bank account, £43,200 was transferred into Mr Kifayah’s personal account, while just over £3,000 was transferred to a third party and £2,250 was withdrawn in cash.
When Mr Kifayah was questioned about these transactions, he stated that £12,000 was used to pay his salary and the remainder for his backdated salary and personal use. However, investigators could not find any evidence that any of the money was used for the benefit of the company.
On 30 June 2022, the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Kwasi Kwarteng, accepted a 10-year disqualification undertaking from Mr Kifayah after he did not dispute that he obtained a £50,000 Bounce Back Loan that the company was not entitled to and failed to use the funds received for the economic benefit of Al-Amir Ltd.
Effective from 21 July, Mr Kifayah is banned from directly, or indirectly, becoming involved in the promotion, formation or management of a company, without the permission of the court.
Al-Amir Ltd’s liquidator is considering the Bounce Bank Loans and recovery of funds.
