The Insolvency Service has announced that Harjinder Singh, director of HP Property (International) Ltd, has been sentenced to 22 months imprisonment, suspended for two years and disqualified as a company director for seven years following fraudulent applications for Covid support loans. Singh legitimately obtained a £20,000 Bounce Back Loan in May 2020 before fraudulently securing a second £30,000 Bounce Back Loan in June 2020 by falsely declaring it was his first application. He subsequently failed to declare the fraudulent £30,000 loan when applying for a £95,000 Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan in October 2020, despite scheme rules requiring disclosure of outstanding Bounce Back Loans. Birmingham Crown Court also ordered Singh to complete 200 hours of unpaid work and 20 days of rehabilitation activities. HP Property (International) Ltd entered compulsory liquidation in November 2021 and the Insolvency Service is pursuing recovery of the fraudulently obtained funds under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.

The Insolvency Service has announced the sentencing of secured convictions against Bharat Jogia and Louise Jogia for breaching a director disqualification orders. At Birmingham Crown Court on 27 March 2026, Bharat Jogia was sentenced to nine months imprisonment, suspended for 18 months, along with 100 hours of unpaid work and a 10-year director disqualification. Louise Jogia, who acted as the official director of BHJ Consulting Ltd to conceal her husband's involvement, received a sentence of seven months imprisonment (suspended for 18 months) and a 10-year director disqualification.

The Insolvency Service announces a seven-year directorship disqualification for Vittorio Dragoti, owner of Vito's Car Care Limited in Suffolk, following the discovery of four illegal workers at his car wash business. The disqualification comes after Immigration Enforcement officials found Romanian nationals working without proper UK employment rights in April 2024, resulting in a £180,000 fine for the company. Additionally, the Secretary of State for Business and Trade accepted a disqualification undertaking from Dragoti, which prevents him from promoting, forming, or managing companies without court permission.

The Insolvency Service has announced James Ireri, aged 44, from Surrey, has been banned for seven years, after abusing two different coronavirus (COVID-19) loan schemes amounting to £150,000 and failing to show that the money was used to sustain his business.

The Insolvency Service announced a seven-year director disqualification for Philip Walker for participating in the Atherton insolvency avoidance scheme and transferring almost £200,000 to a successor company. The investigation found that the director helped facilitate arrangements allowing distressed businesses to avoid formal insolvency procedures while leaving creditors exposed to significant losses. Funds were transferred from the insolvent business to a newly incorporated company, undermining creditor interests and insolvency legislation. The director accepted a disqualification undertaking, preventing involvement in the promotion, formation or management of a company without court permission. The Insolvency Service notes that the case formed part of wider enforcement action against the Atherton scheme, which encouraged company directors to abandon debts while retaining assets and continuing trade through replacement entities.

The Insolvency Service has announced that Paul Bresnihan has entered into a seven-year director disqualification undertaking, effective from 27 January 2026. Bresnihan previously served as director of CJS Engagement 2 Ltd, a Leicester-based payroll company that owed HMRC £32.4m in unpaid VAT when it was wound up in August 2023.

The Insolvency Service has announced that the Secretary of State for Business and Trade has accepted seven-year disqualification undertakings from sisters Karen Mortimer and Joanna Seawright, effective from the 21 October 2025. The disqualifications relate to their role in enabling the Atherton corporate rescue scheme designed to subvert insolvency legislation. Mortimer and Seawright became directors of 138 companies with combined debts exceeding £67m and assets totalling over £42m without independently verifying financial positions or investigating asset disposals. The companies were presented as insolvent with no assets, but no assets were transferred to GPA KLM Ltd and Summers & May Ltd, the entities controlled by the sisters. The undertakings prohibit the sisters from any involvement in company promotion, formation or management without the court’s permission.

The Insolvency Service has announced the seven-year directorship disqualifications for George and Williamina Hay, directors of DWH Trading Ltd. The husband-and-wife directors continued accepting customer orders totalling £69,750 between April and October 2023, despite their company's evident insolvency and outstanding unfulfilled orders worth £27,250. The company entered liquidation owing £143,340 to creditors, with at least £97,000 owed to predominantly elderly and vulnerable customers for unordered stock. Both directors have been disqualified and are prohibited from the promotion, formation or management of the company until March 2032 without court permission.

The Insolvency Service has announced sports training provider, Judy Andrea Roach, aged 54, from Thamesmead in south London, has been disqualified for seven years after failing to account for £2.5m of public funds, due to inadequate maintenance of company accounts.

The Insolvency Service has announced that Alex Shorthose has been disqualified as a company director for six years, until April 2032, following the acceptance of a disqualification undertaking by the Secretary of State for Business and Trade. Shorthose's actions led Siamo Fire and Security Limited and Alex Fire and Security Limited to accumulate combined VAT and PAYE debts of £327,630 between December 2017 and January 2024. During this period, he paid himself a total of £387,195 across both companies. Meanwhile, HMRC received only £5,368 from the first company and nothing from the second. Both companies entered compulsory liquidation in early 2024 after HMRC initiated petitions. The Insolvency Service described Shorthose's conduct as abusive phoenixism, noting that he had failed to formally dissolve the first company when it ceased trading in December 2021 and had repeated the same misconduct with the second company. As a result of the disqualification, Shorthose is now barred from any involvement in the promotion, formation, or management of a company without prior court permission.

The Insolvency Service announced that Leanne Richardson, director of ESL Consultancy Services Ltd, has been disqualified for six years for supervising unlawful spam text marketing that promoted high-interest loans. Richardson instructed a third party to send unsolicited messages without consent, reaching around 546,000 phone numbers daily between September 2022 and December 2023 and triggering 37,961 complaints to the 7726 SPAM reporting service and 16 to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). Although ESL Consultancy Services Ltd was fined £200,000 by the ICO in December 2024, the company entered liquidation in May 2025 without paying the penalty. It further attempted to conceal sender identities by using unregistered SIM cards to distribute messages. The Secretary of State for Business and Trade accepted a disqualification undertaking from Richardson, which prevents them from being involved in the promotion, formation, or management of any company without court permission.

The Insolvency Service reports that Gary Roberts, director of GR Developments 1 Ltd, received a six-month suspended prison sentence for fraudulently removing property before company liquidation under section 206 of the Insolvency Act 1986. Roberts accepted £17,000 in customer payments and transferred £11,513 to his personal account while knowing the company was insolvent. Roberts received a two-year suspension period, 20 days of community rehabilitation, £1,000 of accrued costs, £154 surcharge and a ten-year director disqualification until February 2034.