An estate agent based in west London has been banned from being a director of a company for seven years following an investigation by the Insolvency Service into the collapse of her business.

Hammersmith based 37-year old Hsin Lan Huang is forbidden from acting as a director or directly or indirectly becoming involved, without the consent of the court, in the promotion, formation or management of a company.

Huang was head of New Fortune Limited, which traded from an address in Mayfair’s Berkeley Square in London, from 2011 until 2014, but she failed to ensure that the firm complied with its statutory tax obligations.

When the company entered into liquidation in November 2018, an investigation into the financial affairs of the company by the Insolvency Service was launched.

It found that New Fortune owed the tax authorities more than £226,000.

In her disqualification undertaking, Huang did not dispute that she failed to maintain and preserve sufficient accounting records. Consequently, it is not possible to verify when New Fortune Limited ceased trade or the legitimacy of substantial transactions, including close to £2.5m worth of expenditure and two payments worth almost £1.6m to two unknown bank accounts.

Huang’s seven-year ban is effective from 6 October.

Lawrence Zussman, deputy head of insolvent investigations for the Insolvency Service, said that Huang showed a total disregard to their responsibilities as a company director.

He said: “Much of the public service is funded by the correct amount of taxes being paid and their deceit has ultimately had impact on the public who rely on companies paying their correct taxes.”

Zussman added that Huang’s seven-year disqualification should “serve as a warning to other directors who think they can do as they please”.