Indian-origin businessman jailed for loan fraud in UK
Darpan News Desk IANS, 16 Feb, 2023 02:41 PM
London, Feb 16 (IANS) An Indian-origin businessman has been sentenced to 12 months imprisonment in the UK for having abused an interest free loan scheme provided to businesses impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Kulwinder Singh Sidhu, 58, from Stanwell, pleaded guilty to offences under the Companies Act and the Fraud Act, having abused the Bounce Back Loan financial support scheme in 2020.
He was director of Wavylane Ltd, a haulage company based in Stanwell, and which had been trading since 2010. "Our action has ensured repayment of the loan money and taxpayers have not been left out of pocket," Julie Barnes, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said.
"Any other company directors who might be tempted into dissolving their business to try to keep public money they are not entitled to, should be aware they are risking a lengthy prison term," she added.
On 9 June, 2020 Sidhu applied for a 50,000 pound Bounce Back Loan from his bank on behalf of his business. Under the Bounce Back Loan scheme, genuine businesses impacted by the pandemic could take out interest-free taxpayer-backed loans of up to a maximum of 50,000 pound.
The loan was paid into the company bank account and on June 26, 2020 Sidhu filed paperwork with Companies House to have the business dissolved, having transferred the funds to his personal bank account within two days of receipt.
The striking-off application to dissolve the company was explicit that interested parties and creditors, such as a bank with an outstanding loan, must be notified within seven days of making an application to dissolve a company. The form also highlighted that failure to notify interested parties is a criminal offence, however Sidhu did not follow these rules.
The company was dissolved in October 2020, and was subsequently identified as likely Bounce Back Loan fraud by the Insolvency Service and cross-government counter-fraud systems.
The Insolvency Service investigation found that Sidhu had fraudulently overstated the company turnover in the Bounce Back Loan application, and within two days of receiving the money he had transferred it to his personal account before dispersing the funds to his son and another company.
He pleaded guilty to charges in December last year, and was sentenced on February 13, this year at Guildford Crown Court.
The court imposed a confiscation order for 50,000 pound, which Sidhu has paid in full. In addition to the custodial sentence, he was also disqualified as a company director for six years.
New Jersey Attorney-General Gurbir Grewal has said that his office has received 1,400 complaints of blackmarketing by 900 businesses as the state grapples with a shortage of everyday needs and warned that there would be crackdown.
Amid the fast-spreading coronavirus pandemic in the US, a Sikh family based in the state of Indiana have made masks in an effort to help the public and first responders in the fight against the deadly disease, a media report said.
A United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based Indian expat was now stranded at the Dubai airport after he fell asleep while waiting for his flight back home, a media report said.
WASHINGTON - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada is braced for the possibility that the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States could get significantly worse, but he says the current travel restrictions at the border will suffice — for now.
New York senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, both Democrats, released a letter Monday urging the White House to bear in mind the importance of bilateral travel to businesses, families and communities located near the Canada-U.S. border.
