Kiamil Alkan, trading as Kiki Builders and later as a director of Kiki Builders Ltd and as manager of Kiki Construction Ltd, of Sutherland Road, EN3, was sentenced at Wood Green Crown Court on Friday 22 February to four years and three months imprisonment.

Just before his trial was due to commence, Kiamil Alkan pleaded guilty to 14 counts, including four counts of obtaining credit as an undischarged bankrupt and one count of being concerned in the promotion and management of a company.

At court, Kiamil Alkan was also banned from running limited companies under the Company Directors Disqualification Act for seven years and has been made subject to a Criminal Behaviour Order to monitor his trading for six years.

The court heard that from April 2016 to September 2018, Kiamil Alkan had repeatedly secured contracts to complete home extensions and refurbishments but failed to complete the works.

Kiamil Alkan also insisted his customers pay money in advance of starting work before delivering low-quality and incomplete work. Some contracts were worth over £100,000 and Kiamil Alkan is known to have worked on 11 residential properties in Enfield, raking in more than £485,000.

After several complaints from members of the public, he was interviewed by Enfield’s Trading Standards team which began to monitor and investigate his work.

Alkan was declared bankrupt in May 2017 and this prevented him from being a director of a company. However, he ignored his bankruptcy restrictions and continued to act in the management of his construction companies. Between September 2017 and May 2018, he secured more than £123,000 from four customers and his most recent victims were a disabled resident and a young family.

Enfield’s Trading Standards team had built a case against Alkan over a long period of time and worked closely with his victims to bring the charges against him.

On sentencing, HHJ Greenberg QC remarked on the moving personal statements from his victims and said Alkan had: “Acted callously without care for [the] misery you caused.” Many of his clients have been left thousands of pounds out of pocket and with incomplete building works.

Gary Clarke, Criminal Investigator for the Insolvency Service, said:

Kiamil Alkan adopted dishonest trading practices causing a significant amount of distress and harm for his customers and even being made bankrupt didn’t a put a stop to his unscrupulous activities.

Thanks to close working with Enfield Council’s Trading Standards team we have secured a significant sentence against Kiamil Alkan and this should serve as a warning to others that we have the ability to prosecute those who abuse the law.

Enfield Council’s Cabinet Member for Environment, Cllr Guney Dogan, said:

This was an extremely complicated case for the Council’s Trading Standards officers and legal team and victims have been left emotionally and financially scarred by the acts of this rogue trader. I am grateful for the work of the officers and partners in bringing this man to justice and would urge anyone who has concerns about a trader they are thinking of employing to contact Citizens Advice for consumer guidance.

• the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Liz Truss, will visit Suffolk and Felixstowe businesses
• this includes visits to Lallemand Yeast and Treatt, two companies specialising in food flavouring and ingredients production

At Lallemand Yeast, a world-leading manufacturer of yeast for food and drink products, the Chief Secretary will showcase the exporting success of food and manufacturing companies in the region. Liz Truss will also visit Mel Aviation and Treatt, a global ingredients manufacturer.

Latest figures show that exports from the East of England are rising, up by 8% in 2017 compared to the previous year, and worth £29 billion to the UK economy.

Suffolk businesses are driving strong economic performance across the region – the East of England has seen the largest fall in unemployment in 2018, and has the second highest employment rate across the UK.

This regional growth comes alongside positive economic news this month, with the UK currently having the joint highest employment rate on record.

The Chief Secretary to the Treasury Liz Truss said:

It’s great to be in Suffolk today to meet businesses who are a vital part of the regional economy and to see UK businesses who are creating products that are in demand across the world.

We want this success to continue, with UK businesses having every opportunity to increase their trade, leading to more jobs and higher wages.

Housing Minister Heather Wheeler MP has confirmed over £19.5 million is to be shared among 54 projects across England to help thousands of people who are homeless, or at risk of becoming homeless, to secure their own home.

Councils will use the funding boost to help vulnerable people secure their own tenancy through support such as, paying deposits or putting down the first months’ rent.

This will give them an opportunity to make a home in a property they may otherwise not have been able to access.

This funding forms part of the £100 million Rough Sleeping Strategy which set out detailed plans to end rough sleeping for good.

Today the Minister has also outlined plans to look at letting adverts which potentially discriminate against would-be tenants on Housing Benefit and made clear these should end.

Out of 4.5 million households living in private rental accommodation, 889,000 receive housing benefit to help pay their rent.

Yet the latest figures show around half of landlords said they would not be willing to let to tenants on Housing Benefit – ruling out thousands of vulnerable people and families.

In the coming months, ministers will meet leading industry representatives, including mortgage providers, landlord associations, tenant groups, and property websites to clamp down on blanket exclusions in adverts – with a view to stopping them altogether.

This builds on ongoing government action to create a fairer housing market that works for everyone.

Minister for Housing and Homelessness Heather Wheeler MP said:

I want everyone to have the security, dignity and opportunities they need to build a better life – at the heart of which is ensuring everyone can find a safe and secure home to call their own.

This funding will make a huge difference in opening up the private rented sector to people who need it and give them the chance to rebuild their lives.

I will also be meeting key stakeholders to tackle the practice of ‘No DSS’, to underline the need for immediate change.

Minister for Family Support, Housing and Child Maintenance, Justin Tomlinson said:

Everyone should have the same opportunity when looking for a home, regardless of whether they are in receipt of benefits.

With Universal Credit, payments can be paid directly to the landlord, and we continue to listen to feedback and work with landlords to improve the system.

Landlords can already receive rent from tenants on Housing Benefit and Universal Credit – meaning payments can be paid directly into their accounts.

This helps strengthen the choices and opportunities available for those on benefits to secure the homes they and their families need.

In a third move, local authorities can from today, also bid for a share of up to £26 million of Rapid Rehousing Pathway funding for 2019 to 2020.

This extra investment can be used to fund innovative local schemes which help those sleeping rough and struggling with mental health problems or substance misuse issues. It will give them the wrap-around help they need to get back on their feet.

The Private Rented Sector Access Fund will support minimum tenancies or existing tenancies for a period of 12 months.

See more information about the 54 projects set to receive funding: PRS Access Fund successful bids (PDF, 71.5KB, 2 pages)

The Crisis Private Rented Sector Access Programme ran from 2010 until 2014, backed by £11 million in funding from the government. The programme supported over 153 schemes across the sector, creating 8,000 tenancies over 4 years. A total of 90% of these schemes created lasted beyond 6 months.

Richard Jones (31), from Carmarthen, Wales, was the director of Miss-Sold Products UK Limited and Your Money Rights Limited, the two companies at the centre of investigations by the ICO and the Insolvency Service.

This latest case takes the total period of director disqualifications achieved through collaboration between the ICO, the Insolvency Service and other enforcement bodies, past the 100 year mark.

Miss-Sold Products UK Limited was a company Richard Jones used as a vehicle to make unsolicited phone calls contrary to the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations*.

The company came to the attention of the ICO after the regulator received 146 complaints between November 2015 and March 2016 about automated phone calls from telephone numbers used by Miss-Sold Products UK.

Further investigations by the ICO found that in a five-month period, Miss-Sold Products UK made close to 75 million automated marketing calls, primarily containing a recorded message about PPI refunds.

The ICO attempted to engage with Miss-Sold Products UK from May 2017 onwards but were stonewalled before issuing a £350,000 penalty against the company for making unsolicited marketing calls to people without their specific consent and for failing to include a company name and contact details in the recorded message.

Miss-Sold Products UK failed to pay the debt and the company was wound-up through the courts in June 2018.

Richard Jones also used a second company, Your Money Rights Limited, as an additional vehicle to make unsolicited PPI calls.

In a near identical set of events, the ICO investigated Your Money Rights after the regulator received more than 250 complaints between March and July 2016 about automated calls from telephone numbers used by the company.

This time round, the ICO found that in a five month period Richard Jones’ second company made more than 146 million automated marketing calls to people who had not consented to be called, with a recorded message about PPI refunds.

The ICO attempted to engage with Your Money Rights but similar to proceedings with the first company, Miss-Sold Products UK, the regulator was thwarted in their enquiries.

This resulted in a second £350,000 fine being issued against the company for making unsolicited marketing calls to people who had not consented and for failing to include a company name and contact details in the recorded message.

Your Money Rights failed to discharge the debt and the company was also wound up on the petition of the ICO in March 2018.

Following referrals from the ICO, further investigations were conducted by the Insolvency Service to assess Richard Jones’ activities and how he had contributed to cause the two companies to breach the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations.

Investigators concluded that Richard Jones played a central role, which led him to submit a disqualification undertaking to the Secretary of State.

Effective from 1 March 2019, Richard Jones is banned for eight years from directly or indirectly becoming involved, without the permission of the court, in the promotion, formation or management of a company.

David Brooks, Chief Investigator for the Insolvency Service, said:

There are no justifications Richard Jones could provide that would have excused him from what he had done. Not only did he use two separate companies to make the unsolicited phone calls but we are talking about millions of intrusive calls rather than a small handful.

Unsolicited phone calls cause misery and harm to unsuspecting people and being banned for eight years will put a significant dent on Richard Jones’ ability to do something similar again.

Andy Curry, ICO Investigations Group Manager, said:

Richard Jones is one of the worst offenders we have come across in the 15 years since laws around electronic nuisance marketing were introduced. This disqualification which takes him out of action is good news for all those who have been a victim of his cold calling and should be a warning to other operators who use similar marketing techniques.

The net is tightening and we now have increased powers to make directors and other company officers responsible personally liable for fines of up to £500,000 for nuisance marketing.

*Guidance on the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) regulations are available from the ICO.

Your Money Rights Limited (Company number 06728950)

Miss- Sold Products UK Limited (Company number 09470330)

Richard Jones is from Carmarthen, Wales, and his date of birth is November 1987

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

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

Persons subject to a disqualification order are bound by a range of other restrictions.

The Insolvency Service administers the insolvency regime, investigating all compulsory liquidations and individual insolvencies (bankruptcies) through the Official Receiver to establish why they became insolvent. It may also use powers under the Companies Act 1985 to conduct confidential fact-finding investigations into the activities of live limited companies in the UK. In addition, the agency deals with disqualification of directors in corporate failures, assesses and pays statutory entitlement to redundancy payments when an employer cannot or will not pay employees, provides banking and investment services for bankruptcy and liquidation estate funds and advises ministers and other government departments on insolvency law and practice.

Further information about the work of the Insolvency Service, and how to complain about financial misconduct, is available.

You can also follow the Insolvency Service on:

£19.5 million is to be shared among 54 projects to help thousands of people who are homeless, or at risk of becoming homeless, to secure their own home.