Essex builder banned from being a director after paying himself money he owned in tax
Anthony Disomma, director of construction company Company Design Ltd, based in Basildon, Essex, has been disqualified from being a company director for five years for using the company’s last remaining funds to pay an associated company – even though he owed the money in unpaid taxes.
The disqualification follows an investigation by Company Investigations at The Insolvency Service.
Disomma, 52, of Basildon Essex has given an undertaking to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation & Skills that he will not act as a director of a limited company from 11 March 2013 until March 2018.
Company Design, which specialised in fitting suspended ceilings and partitions in commercial properties, went into liquidation on 23 August 2011 owing at least £90,000 to creditors. The majority of this debt was made up of £75,000 owed to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) in unpaid taxes. HMRC’s records show that the company had unpaid tax arrears from October 2010.
The Insolvency Service investigation showed that on 1 August 2011, Disomma sought advice from an Insolvency Practitioner regarding his company’s financial position. He was told that the company was insolvent and would have to be liquidated. Then, just nine days later, he signed a cheque for £25,000 payable to an associated company. The cheque was cleared on 12 August 2011, causing the company’s bank account to be overdrawn and leaving no money to pay to HMRC.
Commenting on the disqualification, Mark Bruce, a Chief Examiner at The Insolvency Service, said: “Directors who seek an unfair advantage over their competitors by not paying tax are damaging commercial confidence and harming the UK’s reputation as a place to do business. They should not expect to get away with it.
“Other directors tempted to follow this path should remember that if they run a business in a way that is detrimental to either its customers or its creditors they lose the protection afforded by limited liability. The Insolvency Service will investigate them and seek to remove them from the business environment.”