Nasrullah Irfan, also known as Irfan Ali, 39 from Manchester, has been given a six-month sentence after breaching a disqualification order that prevented him from acting as a company director. After pleading guilty, the sentence has been suspended for twelve months.
Irfan was also ordered to pay £3,000 in costs, with creditors prioritised, by January 2023.
Irfan had accepted a disqualification undertaking in 2012 after an Insolvency Service investigation into misconduct when he was a director of The Loan Supermarket, which ceased trading in 2010. The business was wound up after numerous complaints, and it was established that Irfan, along with his brothers who were his co-directors, had taken funds out of the company to buy Rolex watches and lease prestige cars. At the point of liquidation, The Loan Supermarket owed nearly £800,000 to creditors.
As a result of the disqualification, from 2012 to 2021 Irfan could not act as a director of a company or take part, directly or indirectly, in the promotion, formation or management of a company.
Despite this, from at least January 2017 until February 2018, Irfan acted as director of The Watch Superstore, which purported to be an online watch and jewellery retailer. In particular, Nasrullah Irfan signed legal contracts and negotiated with third parties on behalf of the company, and withdrew more money from the company bank account than his wife, who was co-director.
For breaching the disqualification order, in January 2020 Nasrullah was further disqualified for an additional seven years. His wife, who had known he could not act as a company director, was disqualified for four years.
The Insolvency Service also began criminal proceedings for breaching section 13 of the Company Directors Disqualification Act.
He was sentenced at Manchester Magistrates Court by District Judge Hurst on 7 February 2022.
Julie Barnes, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service said:
Nasrullah Irfan had shown he was not fit to be a company director, causing great financial harm and distress to customers and suppliers, which was why he was disqualified.
He knowingly and flagrantly chose to breach the clear restrictions placed on him, and today’s sentence reflects the seriousness of the offence.
Notes to editors
Nasrullah Irfan is of Manchester and his date of birth is March 1982.
The Watch Superstore Ltd (Company Reg no. 09308769).
Persons subject to a disqualification order are bound by a range of restrictions.
A disqualification order has the effect that without specific permission of a court, a person with a disqualification cannot:
- act as a director of a company
- take part, directly or indirectly, in the promotion, formation or management of a company or limited liability partnership
- be a receiver of a company’s property
Nasrullah Irfan had signed a disqualification undertaking on 18 April 2012 for misconduct identified whilst he was a Director of Theloansupermarket.co.uk Ltd. That undertaking banned him from acting as a director for a period of 9 years.
On 20 January 2020, the Secretary of State accepted a disqualification undertaking from Nasrullah Irfan, after he admitted acting as a Director of The Watch Superstore whilst subject to a Disqualification Order. His ban is effective from 10 February 2020 and lasts for 7 years.
On 20 January 2020, the Secretary of State accepted a disqualification undertaking from Sonya Irfan, after she admitted aiding and abetting her co-director to act as a director whilst he was already the subject of a disqualification order, contrary to section 13 of the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986. Sonya Irfan’s ban is effective from 10 February 2020 and lasts for 4 years.
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