The owner of an Indian restaurant in Wales has been placed under nine-year bankruptcy restrictions after reportedly spending most of the financial support from a COVID-19 taxpayer fund on drinking and gambling.
Rathudi Mahesh Manglanand (47) was a sole trader who ran the Chutney Roti Indian Restaurant in Cardiff. According to the UK’s Insolvency Service, the restaurant had already ceased trading prior to the beginning of the pandemic and, therefore, was not eligible for COVID-19 financial assistance schemes.
In April 2020, Manglanand applied for a GBP 25,000 grant from his local council and the following month, he applied for a GBP 18,000 'Bounce Back' loan.
The restaurateur subsequently filed for bankruptcy in July 2021, at which point, the Insolvency Service began investigating and uncovered “misuse” of the COVID-19 financial support schemes.
What Action Was Taken Against the Owner?
“The COVID-19 support schemes generously provided taxpayer money to support genuine businesses and anyone who abused those schemes should expect to be caught and punished,” said Gavin Seymour, deputy official receiver at the Insolvency Service.
Manglanand accepted that his business had already ceased trading and told investigators that he had been drinking heavily and “was not thinking straight." He estimated that he had lost around GBP 30,000 through gambling within a year.
The Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Kwasi Kwarteng, accepted an undertaking of nine-year bankruptcy restrictions from the businessman, which commenced on 20 June 2022.
The Insolvency Service said in their capacity as Rathudi Manglanand’s trustee in bankruptcy, that the Official Receiver is assessing the assets available in order to recover the COVID-19 support funding.
Bankruptcy restrictions in the UK are wide-ranging, with effects similar to that of an undertaking that imposes limits on the business activities of an individual for the duration of the restrictions.
(Published in arrangement with PTI.)
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