Press release: Lengthy ban for director of Manchester spare parts business

Ayaan Khan was the sole director of Salford Auto Spares Ltd (SAS), which was incorporated in 2011 and traded in motor vehicle scrap parts.

The company latterly operated from leased premises in Swinton, Manchester, and went into liquidation on 4 May 2016 owing more than £112,000 to creditors.

Following the company’s insolvency, the liquidators received claims from at least 98 individual customers, who said that they had made full payments in advance to SAS prior to the liquidation but goods had not been delivered to them at liquidation, leaving them as unsecured creditors. In particular, 64 customers notified the liquidators that they were owed amounts totalling at least £18,869.

In giving the undertaking, Ayaan Khan did not dispute that between 12 April and 18 April 2016, when SAS was insolvent and was preparing to cease trading on 19 April 2016 before entering into liquidation, he caused the company to make transfers out of its bank account totalling £50,180.

He also did not dispute that the transfers were not in the best interests of the company and were to the detriment of its creditors generally. Due to the lack of information provided, these transfers remain unexplained.

Ayaan Khan’s disqualification undertaking was accepted by the Secretary of State on 16 April 2018 and came into force on 7 May 2018.

The disqualification prevents Ayaan Khan from directly or indirectly becoming involved, without the permission of the court, in the promotion, formation or management of a company or limited liability partnership for the duration of his ban.

Robert Clarke, Head of Insolvent Investigations North at The Insolvency Service, said:

In full knowledge that the company was failing, this director has chosen to seek to defeat the claims of creditors, and his improper actions caused losses to others which were wholly avoidable.

Directors who show such blatant disregard for their fiduciary duties can expect to be investigated by the Insolvency Service and removed from the corporate arena for a lengthy period.

Notes to editors

Mr Khan’s date of birth is April 1982 and he resides in Oldham.

Salford Auto Spares Ltd (CRO No. 07505349) was incorporated on 25 January 2011 and latterly traded from leased premises in Rutland Street, Swinton, Manchester, as a trader in motor vehicle scrap parts.

Mr Khan first became a director on 25 January 2011 and was the sole director when SAS entered into liquidation on 04 May 2016 with an estimated deficiency of £112,351 as regards creditors.

In giving his undertaking, Mr Khan did not dispute that:

Between 12 April 2016 and 18 April 2016 Salford made funds transfers totalling £50,180 from its own bank account to an account with another bank. It has not been possible to verify the nature, purpose and recipient of these transfers by reference to the accounting records of Salford delivered to the liquidators, and I have failed to provide information in this regard.

The Disqualification Undertaking was accepted by the Secretary of State on 16 April 2018 and will come into force on 7 May 2018.

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

In addition that person cannot act as an insolvency practitioner and there are many other restrictions are placed on disqualified directors by other regulations.

Disqualification undertakings are the administrative equivalent of a disqualification order but do not involve court proceedings.

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 authorises and regulates the insolvency profession, 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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