Author Archives: HM Government

Lakenheath farming business N&M Sizer lied about how much water it abstracted, fearing it would lose its licence or have its abstraction limits reduced.

In doing so, the company falsely stated that it had extracted more water than it was allowed to under the licence which resulted in an investigation by the Environment Agency.

The company had actually taken very little of the allowance as its crops at the time did not need spray irrigation, Ipswich Magistates’ Court heard today (30 May).

It fined the company £3,000 for the deception and ordered it to pay £2,531 costs.

Mrs Megan Selves, prosecuting for the Environment Agency, told the court the company had been worried that as it had not taken much water it would lose the right the following year to take what the licence allowed.

However, she said that any reduction in future abstraction or any revocation of licence would not be done without looking at about 10 years of records and without discussion with the licence holder.

Any assessment would only be carried out when the licence came up for renewal or if there was evidence that the licence is causing environmental damage. The licence for N&M Sizer Ltd expires on 31 March 2027.

Mrs Selves said that water meters at the company’s site, Bedford Fen in Sedgefen, had been re-calibrated to corroborate the figures submitted to the Environment Agency in a ‘determined effort to mislead’.

She said the company’s actions had been deliberate and a ‘flagrant disregard for the law’ and although there had been no environmental impact, the company had falsified its figures giving a false impression of how much water had been taken from the environment.

Mrs Selves said the company had shown remorse and co-operated with the investigation.

N&M Sizer Ltd pleaded guilty to:

Charge: On or before 30 November 2015 you furnished information to the Environment Agency pursuant to section 201 of the Water Resources Act 1991, namely the water abstraction return for 2014 to 2015 for licence 6/33/39/*S/0496/R01 for abstraction points A, C, D, E and F, and in the said information made a statement which you knew to be false or misleading in a material particular, namely that you had abstracted 153,360 cubic metres of water.

Contrary to section 206(1) and (5) of the Water Resources Act 1991

Media enquiries: For East Anglia press office please contact (24 hours): 0800 917 9250

read more

On the second day of his disqualification trial , Yingji Li, the director of Mandarin Kitchen Limited, gave an undertaking to the Secretary of State for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, which prevents him from becoming directly or indirectly involved in the promotion, formation or management of a company for seven years from 30 June 2017.

Mandarin went into liquidation on 22 April 2014 owing £394,267 to creditors.

The Insolvency Service’s investigation concluded that Mr Li caused Mandarin to employ two illegal workers. He also caused the company to fail to submit returns or payments to HMRC in respect of VAT, PAYE and NIC, with at least £191,748 being owed to HMRC at the date of liquidation.

Commenting on the disqualification, Robert Clarke, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said:

The Insolvency Service will work with other government agencies to take robust action against company directors who fail to comply with the law. In this case, Mr Li disregarded both immigration and taxation legislation and has therefore been disqualified for a significant period. He will also have to meet the legal costs of the proceedings against him.

Notes to editors

Mandarin Kitchen Limited (CRO No.08421507) was incorporated on 27 February 2013. Mandarin operated eight restaurants in London, its registered office being at 88 Kingsway, London WC2B 6AA.

Mr Li (date of birth 10 November 1988) was the sole formally appointed director between 27 February 2013 and liquidation. Mandarin went into Liquidation on 22 April 2014.

On 9 June 2017 the Secretary of State accepted a Disqualification Undertaking from Mr Li effective from 30 June 2017, for seven years.

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, an executive agency sponsored by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), administers the insolvency regime, and aims to deliver and promote a range of investigation and enforcement activities both civil and criminal in nature, to support fair and open markets. We do this by effectively enforcing the statutory company and insolvency regimes, maintaining public confidence in those regimes and reducing the harm caused to victims of fraudulent activity and to the business community, including dealing with the disqualification of directors in corporate failures. Further information about the work of the Insolvency Service, and how to complain about financial misconduct, is available (https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/insolvency-service).

BEIS’ mission is to build a dynamic and competitive UK economy that works for all, in particular by creating the conditions for business success and promoting an open global economy. The Criminal Investigations and Prosecutions team contributes to this aim by taking action to deter fraud and to regulate the market. They investigate and prosecute a range of offences, primarily relating to personal or company insolvencies.

Media enquiries for this press release – 020 7674 6910 or 020 7596 6187

You can also follow the Insolvency Service on:

read more