Jump in director disqualifications

Of this 932-figure reported by the government body, 459 have been disqualified by abusing the Covid-19 financial support scheme. The figures also show that directors guilty of Covid-19-related misconduct are being hit with longer disqualification periods, with the average length of bans being handed out lasting seven years and four months, up from the five years ten months in 2021-22.  

Dave Magrath, director of investigation and enforcement at the Insolvency Service, said: “These fraudsters are just the latest to find out that we will not hesitate to take firm action where we uncover such abuse, and this can ultimately result in a jail sentence. 

“The purpose of the Bounce Back Loan scheme was to support businesses during the pandemic, but it is clear a minority of company directors chose to maliciously abuse the scheme and defraud the taxpayer. Our team of experts continue to work round-the-clock to bring these criminals to justice.” 

2022/23 also saw 49 companies wound up in the public interest – similar to the numbers seen in the previous three financial years – while 250 individuals entered bankruptcy or debt relief restrictions orders and undertakings. Additionally, 69 individuals faced criminal charges brought by the Insolvency Service, and all were convicted.  

Overall, as of the end of March, there were more than 6,200 former directors with active disqualifications and more than 1,800 individuals subject to bankruptcy and debt relief restrictions.