The Insolvency Service has announced the closure of Furrry Pet Group UK Ltd following a High Court order in Manchester. The company's sole director, Darren Anderson, was found to be operating while serving a 15-year directorship disqualification, his third such ban. The investigation revealed Anderson had used multiple aliases and failed to verify claims of £3.15m in assets. The company, previously known as The Holiday Travel Group Ltd until August 2024, did not provide requested accounting records, and investigators could not identify legitimate trading activity. The Official Receiver has been appointed as liquidator.

The Insolvency Service has reported that both Ledbridge Consultants Limited and Montague Partners Ltd have been wound up after investigations revealed that they received more than £1m in fraudulent coronavirus (COVID-19) support loans they were not entitled to.

The Insolvency Service has reported that DT Care Ltd and Amolin Solution Limited have been wound up in the public interest after they defrauded vulnerable pensioners by falsely claiming their computer had a security issue. Both companies used cold-calling tactics to gain remote access to their victim’s computer and take unauthorised payments.

The Insolvency Service has reported that Paragrim Ltd, trading under the Mediacraze.net website, has been shut down after it deceived consumers into signing up to a subscription charging them almost £30 a month. The Mediacraze.net website is no longer active and a winding-up order was made against the company at the High Court on 5 December 2023.

The Insolvency Service has reported that a Lincolnshire eel protection business has been wound-up at the High Court after investigations by the Insolvency Service revealed two cases of government loan misconduct.

The Insolvency Service has reported that Shohid Ahmed has been ordered to pay £123,000 under a confiscation order, together with £6,000 in costs, following an investigation into fraudulent Bounce Back Loan applications. Ahmed fraudulently obtained £100,000 through three loan applications made in 2020 on behalf of Red Square Restaurants Limited, which were submitted in his wife’s name. He was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment at Bradford Crown Court in May 2025 after pleading guilty to offences under the Fraud Act 2006, Companies Act 2006 and Insolvency Act 1986. Ahmed filed false documents with Companies House naming an innocent woman as the company director and produced fabricated invoices claiming that £15,000 of the loan funds were used for restaurant refurbishment. He has three months to pay the confiscation order or face an additional 15 months’ imprisonment, although the payment obligation will remain regardless of any further custodial sentence.

The Insolvency Service reported that Zahid Afzal has been ordered to repay £197,306 following a confiscation hearing at Swansea Crown Court, after fraudulently obtaining three £50,000 Bounce Back Loans (BBLs). Afzal's companies, Phone Bits Limited and Phones Onn Ltd, had legitimately received £52,500 in BBLs before he made false declarations claiming that the companies had not received previous loans and had inflated turnover figures to secure a further £150,000 between May and November 2020. The confiscation order was made under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA 2002) following Insolvency Service investigations, which had previously resulted in a restraint order being placed on Afzal's accounts. He must repay the amount within three months or face two years' imprisonment, although the repayment obligation will remain even if a custodial sentence is served. The confiscation order follows a suspended sentence imposed in 2025 after Afzal pleaded guilty to fraud charges.

The Insolvency Service has reported that Nick Addison, sole director of Quality Ltd, has been disqualified as a director until 2037 after he submitted misleading information to obtain a £50,000 Bounce Back Loan (BBL).

The Insolvency Service has reported that Jagoda Rubaszko has been convicted for fraudulently obtaining a £50,000 coronavirus bounce back loan (BBL). Rubaszko received an 18-month suspended prison sentence after falsely claiming to operate an administrative service business with a £210,000 turnover while the funds were being transferred to five separate Polish bank accounts. The sentence includes a six-month curfew and 175 hours of unpaid work. The Insolvency Service is pursuing recovery under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and Rubaszko remains subject to a ten-year bankruptcy restrictions undertaking until 2033.

The Insolvency Service reports the prosecution of Amraiz Mahmood, a delivery driver, for fraudulently obtaining a £20,250 Covid bounce back loan (BBL) by falsely declaring an £81,000 turnover and concealing approximately £40,000 in assets prior to bankruptcy. Mahmood received a ten month suspended prison sentence accompanied by an eight-year bankruptcy restriction, limiting his borrowing capacity to £500 without disclosing his bankruptcy status.

The Insolvency Service has announced the ten-year directorship ban on Azizullrahman Akbari, the former director of New Watan Bakery Limited, for exploiting the coronavirus bounce back loan (BBL) scheme. Akbari fraudulently secured the maximum £50,000 loan by significantly exaggerating his company's turnover and entered liquidation in July 2023 with outstanding debts surpassing £53,000.

The Insolvency Service has reported that Jack Mason, has been disqualified as a company director for seven and a half years for failure to prevent the use of unauthorised bank overdrafts. Mason acted as director of eight companies which, between mid‑July and late September 2021, were used as part of a scheme to transfer £12,073,646 in unauthorised overdrafts from Barclays to FT (OPS) Limited, now known as Oldcoft Ltd and other connected companies. Despite Barclays obtaining freezing orders, Mason breached these and was sentenced to 22 months’ imprisonment for contempt of court in October 2024. The Secretary of State for Business and Trade has accepted a disqualification undertaking from Mason, which takes effect on 30 March 2026. The disqualification prevents Mason from being involved in the promotion, formation, or management of a company without leave of the court.