A fried chicken shop boss has been disqualified after wrongly claiming more than £50,000 in covid support cash. Ifraz Nabi, 41, has been banned from running companies for seven years after he abused the Eat Out to Help Out and covid furlough schemes for his takeaway New York Krispy Fried Chicken in Levenshulme.
After the firm went into liquidation in November 2020, an investigation by the Insolvency Service found it 'failed to maintain or preserve adequate accounting records' so could not support the claims. Mr Nabi is reportedly the first company director to be disqualified for abusing emergency pandemic support.
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In total the company claimed £30,388.92 from the Eat Out to Help Out scheme and £23,711.74 from the covid job retention scheme between June and October 2020. Eat Out To Help Out was also only supposed to help restaurants with indoor seating, but while New York Krispy Fried Chicken had some indoor diners it relied on takeaway orders for the vast majority of its income.
Nina Cassar, deputy head of investigations at the Insolvency Service, told The Times : "One of the main purposes of the disqualification act is to ensure that company directors adhere to minimum standards. Ifraz Nabi failed not only to maintain the accounting records of his company, he failed to register and pay his business taxes and furthermore abused Covid-19 support schemes designed to support businesses in genuine need.
"This disqualification should serve as a reminder that the Insolvency Service will take action against those who abuse their position and do not take their obligations seriously."
Some 11.7million jobs were supported at the start of the pandemic — a third of the workforce - through the Government's £69billion furlough programme. HM Revenue and Customs estimates suggest more than £6billion has been lost in fraud and error.
