Eight year ban for cash and carry boss

The boss of a Wolverhampton cash and carry has been banned for eight years after consistently failing to provide evidence that excise duty owed on alcohol had been paid.

Rajinder Singh Bains was appointed sole director of Midland Wines (UK) Ltd in June 2013. The company was a wholesaler of wine, food and tobacco, supplying retailers and members of the public.

However, a year later, Bains caused the company to trade in a manner which led to the tax authorities suffering excise duty losses. Over an 18-month period between July 2014 and January 2016, HMRC assessed that Midland Wines owed almost £260,000 in excise duty.

HMRC contacted Bains about the excise duty rules and regulations, as well as the importance of verifying that excise duty had been paid on the goods he was handling, but said he failed to take the correct action.

Bains resigned as a director in early January 2016 before the company entered Creditors Voluntary Liquidation at the end of that month.

The appointed liquidators filed a report with the Insolvency Service highlighting the conduct of Bains while he was director and that the company had failed to pay the correct amount of tax.

Bains cannot, without the permission of the court, be involved in the formation, promotion or management of a company, directly or indirectly for eight years.

Sue Macleod, chief investigator for the Insolvency Service, said: “The length of the disqualification of Rajinder Singh Bains sends a clear message to the business community that failure to pay excise duty that is rightfully owed is serious misconduct and will not be tolerated.”