Ex-councillor jailed for hiding property from trustees

A former Warwick councillor has been jailed for eight months after he failed to disclose rental property to his trustees.

Sukhi Sanghera, the former Conservative councillor for Warwick Myton and Heathcote ward on Warwick District Council had been made bankrupt in August 2017 with debts of more than £140,000.

The Official Receiver was appointed trustee before other trustees were appointed to administer Sanghera’s affairs.

As part of his bankruptcy, Sanghera, also known as Sukhwinderjit Singh Sanghera or Sukhwinder Singh Sanghera, was obliged to disclose all his assets to the Official Receiver and his trustees, including property.

But he failed to disclose to either set of trustees that he was the sole owner of a rental property in Coventry which yielded a monthly rental income of £1,900.

Due to the risk he posed to creditors, the Official Receiver previously sought further bankruptcy restrictions against Sanghera.

In August 2019, the Secretary of State accepted a 10-year bankruptcy restrictions undertaking from Sukhi Sanghera after he did not dispute that he failed to disclose the property to the Official Receiver.

Upon sentence, the judge commented that Sukhi Sanghera was a “profoundly flawed and dishonest man….who showed a flagrant disregard for the law and authorities.”

He appeared at Warwick Crown Court on October 2022 this year, where he was sentenced after being charged with four counts of fraud.

Sanghera received eight month sentences on all four bankruptcy charges contrary to the Insolvency Act 1986 and will serve them concurrently.

Glenn Wicks, chief investigator for the Insolvency Service, said: “At multiple points Sukhi Sanghera had the opportunity to be honest and disclose to his trustees that he benefited from a rental property. Instead, Sukhi Sanghera went to great lengths to conceal the property in Coventry through fraud and deception to avoid paying his creditors what they were owed.

“The courts have recognised the severity of Sukhi Sanghera’s actions and his custodial sentence demonstrates the risks people take if they don’t declare all their assets when in a bankruptcy process.”

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