Two wealthy restaurant bosses have been banned from running a company for a total of 17 years after a probe found they hid more than £4 million from the taxman .
Businessmen Sukdev Gill and Inderjit Singh launched their Cook and Indi's World Buffet empire in 2010 and opened a string of eateries in Glasgow and Lanarkshire.
However, an investigation found 19 limited companies which they had set up to run the restaurants participated in some form of tax misconduct, including under-declaring tax, failing to register for VAT and concealing tax owed.
The Insolvency Service, who launched the probe, said the business partners had concealed tax on a "grand scale".
Gill, 55, of Bothwell, Lanarkshire, was found to have caused companies he was a director of to conceal VAT resulting in a loss for HMRC of £1.97 million. He has been disqualified from acting as a company director for eight years.
Singh, 47, of Giffnock, has been banned for nine years after he did not dispute that he traded through successor companies while also concealing VAT resulting in a loss of £4.37 million.
Five companies the pair set up between 2010 and 2012 all ceased to exist by March 2018, with each one entering into a form of insolvency, either through compulsory liquidation or Creditors Voluntary Liquidation.
HMRC made enquiries into the companies before establishing that all five had been involved in tax misconduct.
After the companies went bust, Singh then set up successor companies, all of which traded as "Cook and Indi's World Buffet" to continue the activities of the five companies that had gone through insolvency.
However, each of the 14 companies succumbed to the same fate as their predecessors and entered into a form of insolvency.
HMRC looked at the companies' activities following their liquidation and discovered that Singh allowed the buffet restaurant businesses to conceal millions of unpaid tax from HMRC.
Similar to the actions of their predecessors, the new companies concealed VAT and under-declared tax contributions and failed to notify HMRC that new businesses were continuing the work of previous companies.
Robert Clarke, chief investigator for the Insolvency Service, said: "Concealing and failing to pay tax on a grand scale like this was not an administrative error.
"The two directors knew exactly what they were doing and not only did the exchequer lose out, but their businesses gained an unfair advantage over their competitors.
"Sukdev Gill and Inderjit Singh have received substantial bans, which will significantly curtail their activities. This should serve as a clear warning to others that if you fail to observe your statutory duties as company directors then the penalties are severe."
The two former directors' disqualifications come into effect on 20 September. From then, the pair will be prohibited from being involved, directly or indirectly, in the formation, promotion or management of a company without permission of a court.
Cook and Indi's World Buffet has three restaurants in Glasgow city centre and branches in Motherwell, Bishopbriggs and Darnley.
They feature an all-you-can-eat multi-cuisine, offering Chinese, sushi, pizza and pastas and dessert counters.
