A letting agency director who transferred over £105,000 from his company account to his personal account has been sentenced for fraud.
Ghanshyam Sarup Batra, also known as Shyam Batra, of Harlow, Essex, moved the money over four days in May 2017, leaving just £3.48 in the company account. The transfers began less than an hour after a court-appointed receiver took control of the agency following Batra’s failure to pay a £6.5m debt he was personally liable for.
Batra, director of Dylan Lettings Worldwide Limited, was given a suspended sentence for fraud and remains banned as a company director until March 2028, having been disqualified for seven years in 2021 following initial Insolvency Service investigations into the fraud. He was sentenced to 12 months in prison, suspended for 18 months.
Dylan Lettings managed three apartment blocks previously converted from hotels, with the freeholds owned by separate companies and Batra registered as the leaseholder on all apartments. In April 2017, Batra and the three companies were ordered to pay a confidential settlement related to £6.5m in arrears owed to mortgage lenders. When the settlement was not paid, a receiver was appointed, and restrictions were placed on Batra’s ability to act for the company.
In October 2017, Dylan Lettings went into creditors’ voluntary liquidation with liabilities of at least £571,000. An Insolvency Service investigation found that Batra breached the court order by transferring nearly £106,000 from the company account into his own, including £50,000 just 45 minutes after the receiver was appointed.
On 4 March 2021, Deputy Insolvency and Companies Court Judge Schaffer imposed the seven-year disqualification order, which began on 24 March. Batra is prohibited from directly or indirectly managing, promoting, or forming a company without court permission. He was also ordered to pay over £11,500 in costs.
The Insolvency Service is also seeking confiscation of funds against Batra under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.
Chris Wood, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said: “Ghanshyam Sarup Batra knew exactly what he was doing when he emptied the company’s bank account. Within an hour of losing control of the business, he began moving money into his own pocket, leaving creditors with nothing.
“This was a deliberate and dishonest act, and the jury saw through his attempts to justify it.
“This conviction should serve as a warning that we will pursue those who try to cheat creditors out of money they are owed.”
Dylan Lettings Worldwide Limited entered liquidation in October 2017 and was dissolved in October 2019. The insolvency practitioner dealing with the liquidation recorded that no assets were realised and no dividends paid to creditors.