Restaurant firm director disqualified for nine years

The director of a restaurant in Pontefract has been disqualified for nine years after he suppressed and concealed sales figures to avoid paying the correct amount of tax.

Azam Ali was the sole registered director of the company Pabna Restaurant (Pabna), which traded as an Indian restaurant in on Ropergate in Pontefract, West Yorkshire.

The restaurant began trading in 2006 as a family business owned by Azam Ali’s brother, before Azam Ali took over the business in 2011. He then incorporated it as a limited company in March 2012.

In April 2017, the company entered into voluntary liquidation having not paid the right amount of tax.

The Insolvency Service carried out investigations following the company’s liquidation and found that Azam Ali caused the company to suppress and conceal sales figures, which meant the company under-declared and underpaid the correct amount of tax.

As a result, on 7 June, the Secretary of State accepted a disqualification undertaking from Azam Ali where he did not dispute the Insolvency Service’s findings.

Effective from 28 June, Azam Ali is now banned from directly or indirectly becoming involved, without the permission of the court, in the promotion, formation or management of a company for nine years.

Lawrence Zussman, deputy head of investigations for the Insolvency Service, said: “The majority of businesses comply with statutory legislation. However, some companies fail to do so and deliberately underpay their taxes.

“The ban of Azam Ali demonstrates our determination to clamp down on those directors who avoid paying the correct levels of tax and we will levy hefty periods of disqualification whether they cooperate or not.”