The bosses of an East Midlands takeaway and a timber supplier have been disqualified from directorships after falsely claiming tens of thousands of pounds of Covid bounce-back loans.
The Insolvency Services said Muhammad Rais, 42, from Leicester, had been disqualified from being a company director for nine years for exaggerating the turnover of his takeaway to claim an extra £31,000 of support.
It said Lee Mankelow, 42, of Arnold, in Nottinghamshire, was disqualified for six years, after claiming £50,000 from the loan scheme to support his timber supply business – which he paid directly to a former director of the company.
During the pandemic companies were entitled to claim Bounce Back Loans of up to 25 per cent of their 2019 turnover, up to £50,000, to tide their businesses over.
The Insolvency Service said Mankelow was the director of Wolf Timber Ltd, which traded as a builders/providers of timber products, and which went into liquidation in December 2020.
Investigators uncovered that Mankelow had applied for a £50,000 Bounce Back Loan in June of that year which they said he transferred to a former director the day after he received it, breaching the terms of the loan.
Investigators said they found no evidence to support 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.
In the other case, the Insolvency Service said Muhammad Rais was the sole director of Lokma BBQ Ltd in Leicester until the company went into liquidation in January this year.
It said investigators found Rais had applied for a £50,000 Bounce Back Loan, stating that the takeaway’s turnover the previous year had been £200,000.
However, it said the actual 2019 turnover had been around £74,000 – meaning he claimed £31,000 more than he should have.
The government service said Rais had agreed to re-pay £8,000 through monthly instalments.
The disqualifications prevent both from directly, or indirectly, becoming involved in the promotion, formation or management of a company, without the permission of the court.
Tom Phillips, assistant director of investigation and enforcement services for the Insolvency Service, said: “Bounce Back Loans were put in place to provide vital support to help viable businesses through the pandemic.
“Both Mankelow and Rais completely abused the government-backed loans to further their own interests, which was totally unacceptable.”
