Do you remember when you were a kid and you used to line up all of your Easter eggs to decide which one to crack open and enjoy first? It evokes a similar feeling when scouring the Insolvency Service disqualification reports and selecting one for an NTI news bullletin.
This week's winner is Selvendran Ramar from Southampton, sole director of SJSA Ltd who has just been disqualified as a director for 11 years after he wrongfully obtained a £45,000 Bounce Back Loan in July 2020. Mr Ramar is one of those special human beings occupying space on the planet, proving his worth by his company claiming to provide temporary nursing staff to hospitals, mental health services, care homes and residential homes. Warms the heart, doesn't it?
You may recall that in order to be eligible for the Bounce Back loan scheme a company claiming had to be trading prior to 1 March 2020, therefore making Mr Ramar's company, SJSA Ltd, ineligible. That, in itself, could have been an administrative error on the part of either the director or the bank from which he sought the loan. However, it turns out that Mr Ramar wasn't terribly good at maths either, as he confirmed on his application that the company’s annual turnover was £180,000 when in reality, in the first three months of trading the company received just £5,500 in income.
We bet it was the pesky cosine button on his calculator. You know how easy it is to confuse that with the divide symbol.
Having made the above error and received the £45,000 (presumably much to his astonishment) Mr Ramar transferred £35,000 to his personal bank account from the business, and the remaining £10,000 to a family member.
SJSA went into Liquidation in September 2021, triggering an investigation by the Insolvency Service. At the point of Liquidation, the £45,000 BBL was the entirety of SJSA Ltd’s declared liabilities and the Insolvency Service noted the Liquidator has recovered £25,000 of the BBL.
The Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy accepted a disqualification undertaking from Mr Ramar, after he did not dispute that he caused SJSA to obtain a Bounce Back Loan that it was not entitled to and awarded him an 11 year ban from November 2022. Let's hope Mr Ramar doesn't muddle his numbers up again and start training before 2033, as the disqualification undertaking prevents him from directly, or indirectly, becoming involved in the promotion, formation or management of a company, without the permission of the court.
