Big day tomorrow, as I will be in the Palace of Westminster watching what is expected to be a highly charged committee meeting in which Lord Agnew, two British Business Bank “higher-ups” and a slew of bank bosses are being grilled about Covid Loan Fraud.
Let’s hope they can all agree this time, but I doubt they will and it will end up being the usual arse covering exercise I have seen played out by each of them many times in the past. Until then here is another case in which a Company Director has just been hit with a 5-year ban for BBL wrongdoing.
Mr Ashish Misra (“Mr Misra”) caused DARQ Limited (“DARQ”) to apply for a £30,000 Bounce Back Loan (“BBL”), which was deposited into DARQ’s bank account on 06 May 2020 and utilised the proceeds received contrary to the terms of the BBL scheme, in providing no economic benefit to DARQ in that:
In March 2020, at the start of the Covid pandemic, Mr Misra was informed that DARQ’s sole client contract would not be renewed.
The last payment from this contract was received on 27 March 2020. On 04 May 2020, HM Treasury launched the BBL to enable small businesses to apply and receive 100% government backed loans of between £2,000 and £50,000 via an online application process.
On 06 May 2020, a £30,000 BBL was deposited into DARQ’s bank account, leaving a credit balance of £37,633.
The terms and conditions of the loan stated that it was to be used only to provide economic benefit to the business, and not for personal purposes.
On 07 May 2020 payments of £15,000, £10,000, and £10,000 were made from DARQ’s bank account to Mr Misra’s personal bank account.
On 11 May 2020, another £2,600 was made to Mr Misra’s personal bank account, leaving a credit balance in DARQ’s account of £32.85.
In his director questionnaire, signed by Mr Misra on 27 October 2021, he stated that these funds were “spent on looking for a job, training, drawing salary”.
On 11 February 2021, DARQ entered Creditors Voluntary Liquidation with liabilities of £50,084 and the BBL of £30,000 remained unpaid.