Banned! Agents “abused taxpayers” and “disregarded responsibilities”

Three lettings agency bosses have been banned from being directors of companies for a total of over 13 years after being accused of totally disregarding their responsibilities .

A damning statement from the Insolvency Service says Harrison Property Partners Ltd was incorporated in May 2012, offering property lettings and management services from its offices in East London.

But the firm went into Creditors Voluntary Liquidation in February 2018 and this triggered a probe by the Insolvency Service.

Investigators uncovered that director Khushal Khagram, Andrew Matin and Alan George had either failed to maintain company records or abused the tax regime, leading to all three being banned from running limited companies for a total of 13.5 years.

Alan George Clark of Essex was the first to be banned for 3.5 years in August 2020 after investigators uncovered he failed to submit tax returns while he was a director from September 2013 until he resigned in July 2016 and traded to the detriment of the tax authorities.

Tax returns submitted after Clark left Harrison Property Partners showed that close to £191,000 was owed to the tax authorities following his misconduct.

The next director to be banned was Andrew Geoffrey Matin from Surrey. He boss was removed from the Companies House register for six years in August 2021 after investigators exposed that he failed to ensure the company maintained sufficient accounting records and/or failed to deliver these to the liquidator.

The Insolvency Service says that Matin’s misconduct means it is not possible to verify many of Harrison Property Partners’ activities. 

This included verifying whether more than £770,000 spent was on legitimate business expenditure, confirming the nature of 50 payments to three accounts totalling £187,600, determining the level of remuneration taken by Matin, and the exact reasons for the property company’s insolvency. During his time as director, Matin also failed to ensure the property company submitted tax returns between October 2016 and February 2018 and traded to the detriment of the tax authorities. Since the property company went into liquidation, the tax authorities are owed more than £309,000 in tax liabilities.

Thirdly, accountant Khushal Khagram of Finchley was the last of the directors to be banned in November 2021 for four years.

Investigators uncovered that Khagram had committed misconduct similar to both Clark and Matin’s in that he failed to ensure the property company submitted tax returns between October 2016 and February 2018 and traded to the detriment of the tax authorities. As is the case with Matin, the tax liabilities owed by the company increased under Khagram’s directorship.

All three are now banned from directly or indirectly becoming involved, without the permission of a court, in the promotion, formation or management of a company.

Lawrence Zussman, deputy director of Insolvent Investigations, says: “All three property bosses totally disregarded their responsibilities as company directors. The absence of proper company records means we cannot verify legitimate business activities and the failure to submit tax returns means they also abused the taxpayer in the process.

“Thirteen and a half years is a considerable amount of time to be removed from the corporate arena and will protect creditors and the tax payer from any further harm caused by Khushal Khagram, Andrew Matin and Alan Clark.”