Poultry directors banned for failing to pay tax

THREE owners of Bolton-based Bilal Poultry Products have received director bans for failing to keep proper accounts or pay taxes.

Abdullah Rana, 45, Bilal Rana, 38, and Mahmud Akhtar, 43, have all been disqualified for five-and-a-half years.

The Insolvency Service said the lack of records meant a liquidator could not collect £24,800 believed to be owed to the company, or establish what had happened to equipment bought for £10,000 shortly before the insolvency.

It also meant that it was not possible to accurately determine the sales income of the company or account for payments to the directors, including two payments of £20,000 just three months before the company failed. The directors failed to file tax returns or pay all tax debts, leaving at least £46,411 outstanding.

Robert Clarke, head of insolvent investigations North at the Insolvency Service, said: “Directors have a duty to make sure that their companies maintain proper accounting records, and, following insolvency, deliver them to the office-holder in the interests of fairness and transparency.

“Without a full account of transactions it is impossible to determine whether a director has discharged his duties properly, or is using a lack of documentation as a cloak for impropriety. These three directors have paid the price for failing to do that, as they cannot now carry on in business other than at their own risk.”

The company went into a creditors voluntary liquidation in October 2011 with assets of £7,523 and liabilities of £585,759.