Bolton restaurateur banned for coronavirus loan abuse

A Bolton restaurant director has been disqualified for seven years after claiming a government-issued coronavirus loan at a time when his company had ceased trading.

Robert John Lee, 32, had been the director of Blackrod Dining since 29 July 2019, trading as the Hawthorns restaurant at Douglas Valley Golf Drive Range in Bolton, Lancashire.

On 12 May 2020, Lee obtained a Bounce Back Loan (BBL) for his company, even though it had no trading premises to operate from, as he was evicted in February that year for rent arrears including a recharge of utilities, insurance and business rates of £18,598.

Blackrod already had liabilities of £96,000 when it was forced to stop business.

This ran contrary to the terms of the government's Bounce Back Loan scheme, which was introduced during the pandemic to allow small and medium-sized businesses to borrow – and subsequently repay – between £2,000 and up to 25% of their turnover.

But bank statements from 13 May 2020 revealed that Blackrod still received £50,000, which was the maximum loan available under the BBL scheme.

Between 13 May 2020 and 12 August 2020, payments were made to a specific creditor and a related company totalling £36,500, which were to the detriment of the remaining creditors totalling £104,907 and at a time when Blackrod was insolvent.

Payments totalling £2,400 were also passed onto a company of which Lee was sole director.

The Insolvency Service further uncovered that on the date of liquidation in October 2020, Blackrod had assets of £6,000, liabilities of £110,907 and an overall deficiency to creditors of £104,907.

Lee's disqualification was effective from 8 December and he was banned for seven years from acting as a director of a company registered in the UK, or directly or indirectly becoming involved, without the permission of the court, in the promotion, formation or management of a company.

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