An Indian-origin soft drinks businessman from central England has been banned from holding a company directorship for nine years after admitting inflating figures to acquire a loan under a COVID-19 pandemic support scheme.

Inderjit Singh Dadial, whose ban comes into effect this week, was the sole director of Cali Juices Limited, a wholesaler of specialised soft drinks incorporated in 2019 with a registered address in Wolverhampton. In June 2020, at the peak of the pandemic, Dadial applied for and secured GBP 50,000 through the UK government’s Bounce Back Loan scheme set up to support struggling businesses.

While the company’s accounts for the year ending January 2020 showed a turnover of just over GBP 2,000, the UK’s Insolvency Service found in an investigation that 31-year-old Dadial had in fact lied and stated the turnover as GBP 250,000 to be able to access the loan.

“Inderjit Singh Dadial had significantly inflated the turnover on the application to obtain a loan to which Cali Juices Limited was not entitled,” said Dave Elliott, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service.

“The Insolvency Service will not hesitate to investigate and use its powers against those who have abused the COVID-19 support schemes,” he said.

It turned out that Cali Juices Limited was not eligible for any money under the scheme based on its actual accounts and income received into the company’s bank account.

The UK’s Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), Kwasi Kwarteng, accepted a disqualification undertaking from Dadial after he admitted grossly inflating the company’s turnover to secure the Bounce Back Loan. The disqualification undertaking prevents him from directly, or indirectly, becoming involved in the promotion, formation or management of a company, without the permission of the court.

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

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