11-Year Ban for Director’s Dual Bounce Back Loan and Record Evasion

An 11 year ban, starting today the 29^th of June 2023 is what the Company Director named in this case has to look forward to for his Bounce Back Loan wrongdoing.

Jaspal Singh Sidhu (Mr Sidhu) caused Metandu Inc Ltd (Metandu) to dishonestly obtain a second Bounce Back Loan (BBL) of £50,000 on 15 August 2020 when it was not eligible to receive it.

In that:

• On 08/05/2020 Metandu submitted a BBL application to ‘Bank A’ for the maximum loan available.
• On 12/05/2020 BBL funds of £50,000 were paid into the company bank account held with ‘Bank A’.
• On 04/06/2020 Mr Sidhu submitted a second BBL application to ‘Bank B’. Mr Sidhu signed the declaration which stated this was the only BBL applied for and that a BBL had not already been received, in the knowledge that the company had already received the maximum £50,000 BBL from ‘Bank A’.
• Mr Sidhu caused the company to obtain a second BBL dishonestly, signing the declaration recognising the implications of providing inaccurate information.
• On 15/08/2020 BBL funds of £50,000 were paid into the company bank account held with ‘Bank B’.

Mr Sidhu failed to ensure that Metandu maintained and/or preserved adequate accounting company records, or in the alternative, following liquidation failed to deliver up such records as were maintained and/or preserved to the liquidator for the period 3/12/19 to liquidation.

As a result, it is not possible to:

• Establish how funds were used from cheque withdrawals described as cash, totalling £795,579 in the period 03/12/19 to 16/11/20, from the account held with ‘Bank B’.
• Verify whether two £50,000 loans introduced into the company on 12/05/2020 and 15/08/2020, via a Government guaranteed BBL scheme with the express intention of providing economic benefit to the business, were utilised for this purpose:
• Establish the reason for a payment of £44,500 on 18/5/20 to an unknown third party, from the account held with ‘Bank A’.
• Establish the nature of a £5,500 withdrawal on 26/05/2020 from the account held with ‘Bank A’.
• Establish the nature of a cheque withdrawal described as cash for £22,000 made on 21/08/2020 from ‘Bank B’.
• This account was overdrawn by £152 before receipt of the second BBL on 15/08/2020.
• The company did not previously have available funds for this withdrawal and withdrew funds which it was not entitled to receive.
• Determine the reason for payments totalling £24,679 to individuals between 18/08/2020 and 24/08/2020, made from the account held with ‘Bank B’.