Press release: Husband and wife banned for failing to preserve company records

Mr Mohammed Miah and Mrs Anwara Miah, were both directors of Murrayfield Developments Limited (MDL), which was incorporated in 2004 and traded as The Original Raj Hotel in Edinburgh.

From January 2012, Mr and Mrs Miah were joint directors of MDL and the company ceased trading on 19 November 2015 and went into liquidation on 9 December 2015 owing creditors over £260,000.

An investigation by the Insolvency Service, which followed the liquidation, led to a trial.

The court heard that the Insolvency Service investigation found Mr and Mrs Miah failed to preserve or deliver up the accounting records for MDL to the liquidator, as they were required to by insolvency law. This meant it wasn’t possible to account for over £1 million paid out from the company’s bank account, including cheques written to cash after the commencement of winding up proceedings. This was aggravated by the directors’ failure to provide a statement of affairs to the liquidator.

It was also found that Mr and Mrs Miah caused MDL to trade to the detriment of HMRC whilst insolvent from 1 January 2014 to the date of liquidation resulting in a tax debt of at least £228,920.

In the absence of either Mohammed Miah or Anwara Miah at the court hearing, the Sheriff granted a disqualification order against both Mr and Mrs Miah.

The disqualification commenced on 6 March 2018 and is effective until 6 March 2025.

Robert Clarke, Head of Company Investigation at the Insolvency Service said:

Directors have a duty to ensure 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.

Notes to editors

Murrayfield Developments Limited (Company number SC262655), was incorporated in 2004.

Mr Mohammed Miah’s date of birth is March 1959. He was appointed as a director of MDL on 30 January 2012 and remained in office until the date of liquidation. Mrs Anwara Miah’s date of birth is June 1960. She was appointed as a director of MDL on 2 February 2004 and remained in office until the date of liquidation.

A disqualification order has the effect that without specific permission of a court, a person with a disqualification cannot:

• act as a director of a company
• take part, directly or indirectly, in the promotion, formation or management of a company or limited liability partnership
• be a receiver of a company’s property

Persons subject to a disqualification order are bound by a range of other restrictions.

The Insolvency Service administers the insolvency regime, investigating all compulsory liquidations and individual insolvencies (bankruptcies) through the Official Receiver to establish why they became insolvent. It may also use powers under the Companies Act 1985 to conduct confidential fact-finding investigations into the activities of live limited companies in the UK. In addition, the agency deals with disqualification of directors in corporate failures, assesses and pays statutory entitlement to redundancy payments when an employer cannot or will not pay employees, provides banking and investment services for bankruptcy and liquidation estate funds and advises ministers and other government departments on insolvency law and practice. Further information about the work of the Insolvency Service, and how to complain about financial misconduct, is available.

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