Millions owing in Bounce Back Loans – Directors Beware!
Howat Avraam Solicitors
Solicitors specialising in Corporate, Commercial, Employment and Disputes.
With one successful prosecution and thirty more pending, not to mention the significant number of voluntary disqualification undertakings, The insolvency Service (IS) appears to have been tasked with aggressively pursuing directors who wrongly claimed a Bounce Back Loan (BBL) or misapplied the loan monies.?To make matters worse for directors, “tough new powers” have been introduced that will assist the IS in pushing for 10-year disqualifications (usually reserved for fraud allegations) and demanding that directors personally repay any wrongly claimed or misapplied BBL monies through seldom used Compensation Orders.?It is understood that hundreds of directors who abused the BBL scheme have since been disqualified and a number of agencies have been engaged to investigate and enforce further cases of wrongdoing.
The above all appears to be part of a new Government push to recover the huge amount of Loans made to the 16,000 businesses which took out a Government-backed Covid Loan, often following fraudulent applications or for non-permitted purposes, before going bust.?It is estimated that ￡17bn could be lost to fraud, errors and companies subsequently going into liquidation.
If you’ve been affected by the above or are a director of an insolvent business who is worried about potential consequences, do get in touch for advice on your options before liquidating or dissolving your company.?
CONTACT US
For more information on Insolvency or Director Disqualification matters, whether in relation to pre-issue Insolvency Service enquiries or representation in respect of Director Disqualification Proceedings issued by the Secretary of State, please contact Matthew Howat, Head of Howat Avraam’s Director Disqualification team, on his direct dial, 020 4566 7154, or email Matthew at [email protected].?Alternatively, visit our website at www.howatavraamsolicitors.co.uk.
Original article here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-62338308