The Insolvency Service

We are hiring! Do you have a passion for finance and a desire to make a real impact? We are recruiting for a Treasury Management Officer, with the successful candidate able to work from our Birmingham, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Exeter, Ipswich, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle and Nottingham offices. This is an exciting role within the Insolvency Service which will require you to build a network of contacts to ensure the monthly cash forecasts for each of the agency's bank accounts represent a true reflection of the likely cash position. You will report to the Head of Treasury Management within the Finance, Commercial, Sustainability and Property directorate and will work closely with other functional areas within finance, the wider agency and cross government. https://lnkd.in/eEwd7Ey9

A director who fraudulently claimed £100,000 in Covid loans and moved the money through his family’s bank accounts has been given a suspended sentence. Muhammadh Chaudhry, who previously went by the name of Masood Jamati, secured a £50,000 Bounce Back Loan for a media business in July 2020. The 41-year-old then fraudulently obtained another £50,000 loan for UK Media Kit Hire Ltd in September 2020, which he claimed was a film and TV production company.  Mark Stephens, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said: "Muhammadh Chaudhry cynically invented a turnover figure to secure Covid support for his media business which we found absolutely no evidence had ever traded. "He then fraudulently applied for a second Covid loan for UK Media Kit Hire, another company which again appears never to have done any business. "These actions were clearly pre-planned and Chaudhry deliberately chose to take advantage of a taxpayer-backed scheme which was set up to support legitimate businesses during the pandemic. "While we are of course pleased that Chaudhry has eventually accepted responsibility for his actions and committed to paying back the money in full, we note that this was only done when he was faced with potentially even more serious consequences." https://lnkd.in/eD5Bkzkh

Our Director of Investigation and Enforcement Services Dave Magrath was interviewed on BBC Radio Essex earlier this morning about a company we successfully shut down which aggressively cold-called and swore at vulnerable people. Basildon-based Home Drainage Protection Service Ltd deliberately intimidated pensioners and people with medical conditions, offering them drainage protection plans which had little or no real value. The company’s crude sales tactics included threatening people with the police and bailiffs if they did not sign up to their service. Their sales techniques were described by the judge who wound-up the company as being truly frightening. Dave's interview begins at around the 3:13:30 mark in the show. https://lnkd.in/dQiBJDSq

A decorator who secured three Covid Bounce Back Loans worth a combined £145,000 has been banned as a company director and ordered to pay compensation. Ruxanda Guja claimed £100,000 more than she was entitled to for her company, Roxy Contracts Limited, which she said dealt with “specialised construction activities”. Guja applied to three separate banks for Bounce Back Loans during the course of 2020, obtaining one worth £45,000 and two maximum-value ones of £50,000 each. The 40-year-old was banned as a director for 13 years at a hearing of the High Court in London. She must also pay compensation of £107,038 and costs of £7,592. https://lnkd.in/eBqMjeVQ

We are excited that our successful policy and technical Forward Thinking conference returns in 2025. The conference will return in partnership with University College London, UCL Laws acting as host on Tuesday 8 April. The call for prospective academic and technical papers remains open. Registration for tickets will open in the New Year when we announce the agenda of papers to be presented on the day.  https://lnkd.in/e5apqhzh

A company which aggressively cold-called vulnerable people to sell drainage and electrical protection plans which had little or no real value, has been shut down. Home Drainage Protection Service Ltd bombarded pensioners and people suffering from medical conditions with up to 20 calls a day, using abusive language and threatening to call the police or bailiffs if they did not sign up to their bogus protection plans. Cheryl Lambert, Assistant Director of Operations at the Insolvency Service, said: "We received numerous reports that Home Drainage Protection Service was consistently pressurising vulnerable members of the public, issuing so-called ‘protection certificates’ for household appliances. "Their calls were designed to be deliberately intimidating, with the callers swearing, demanding payment from those who were unfortunate enough to pick up the phone, and threatening to send the bailiffs or police to their address. The judge said that the sales techniques used were beyond aggressive, and that they were frightening to people. "We also found hardly any evidence that the company was selling the protection cover it attempted to force on people. Indeed, the company appeared to be a front for the transfer of millions of pounds of funds through different bank accounts." https://lnkd.in/eMY_tkni

A sales consultant who provided false information to secure a Covid loan has been banned as a company director for nine years. Nazia Khan invented a turnover for her dormant business, called LC247 Limited, when she applied to a bank for a £25,000 Bounce Back Loan in July 2020. The 50-year-old then used money from the company bank account to make payments of more than £23,000 and cash withdrawals for mainly non-business purposes. Khan, who is now based in Dubai, described herself as a sales consultant with two decades of experience. She claimed her company provided a sales consultancy service in retail, fashion, luxury vehicles, consumer electronics and health and beauty products. https://lnkd.in/emWGS9Tv

A company connected to a former travel agency which owed customers almost £600,000 in refunds when it went into liquidation has been shut down. Felix Holidays Group Limited’s directors claimed the company had never traded since it was set up in 2020. However, investigations by the Insolvency Service revealed the existence of two American Express cards used to make payments on behalf of its sister company, Felix Travels and Tours Limited. Felix Holidays Group also told the bank that its turnover was as high as £1.8 million. https://lnkd.in/eEZ6a8cE

Insolvency Service attends IPA Personal Insolvency Conference 2024 Attending the IPA’s personal insolvency conference, the Insolvency Service set out its continuing work with regulators to improve support for people with debt. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/ewJnfWGf

We are hiring! Are you ready to take on a high-impact role that helps combat financial crime, protects communities, and disrupts criminal enterprises? We are looking for Accredited Financial Investigators to join our team - a position that plays a critical part in delivering justice and recovering assets for the public good. You will work at the forefront of complex investigations, using your expertise to analyse financial trails, identify fraudulent activity, plan and prepare financial investigations, present case material and support legal proceedings. Your work will be pivotal in identifying assets, calculating criminal benefit, supporting prosecution teams, and undertaking confiscation orders under the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA). This is a specialist role - we are seeking someone with: • Accreditation from the National Crime Agency (NCA) • Proven experience in financial investigation, particularly under POCA • Strong analytical and problem-solving skills to dissect complex financial networks • A drive to make a tangible difference in disrupting crime If you are a financial investigator ready to take the next step in your career -or know someone who fits the bill - we would love to hear from you! https://lnkd.in/ezakXVWV