Taxi Driver Online

This is an official press release from HMG's Insolvency Service

Slightly odd that it seems to assume his actual turnover figure is real, but at a rough guess I'd say he was understatng that for tax return purposes, but he hugely overstated it when applying for the bounce back loan, but only the latter is addressed here.

But, I mean, unless he was a part-timer or there's some other oddity in play, his real turnover couldn't have just been £11,446 in a full year


Former London minicab driver handed 11-year sanctions for Covid loan abuse

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/form ... loan-abuse

Bankrupt ex-private hire driver exaggerated his turnover by more than £188,000 to falsely claim a £50,000 Bounce Back Loan


- Huseyin Houssein gave false business information to claim the maximum Covid loan
- He overstated the turnover of his private hire business by more than 17 times to claim over £47,000 more than he was entitled to receive
- Houssein is now subject to 11 years of tough restrictions which include being prevented from acting as a company director without the court’s permission

A former London minicab driver is subject to 11 years of stringent sanctions after the Official Receiver found he abused the Covid loan scheme to claim over £47,000 more than his business was entitled to.

Huseyin Houssein, 55, a former private hire driver from Nash Road in Edmonton, North London, applied for a £50,000 Bounce Back Loan in August 2020.

He stated in the application that his business had a £200,000 turnover during the previous year, enabling him to claim the maximum loan of £50,000.

But Houssein was made bankrupt in February 2024 and the Official Receiver overseeing his bankruptcy discovered the actual turnover for the private hire business in the year ending 31 March 2020 had actually been £11,446. The amount he would actually have been entitled to was just £2,861.

Victoria Prime, Official Receiver at the Insolvency Service, said:

"Huseyin Houssein used false information to claim money that was designed to support businesses through the pandemic.

"He took more than £47,000 of taxpayers’ money that he was not entitled to.

"The Insolvency Service takes the abuse of public money seriously and I’m pleased that these lengthy restrictions will help to protect the public from further financial harm."

The Official Receiver, who has a duty to investigate the cause of a bankruptcy, discovered that Houssein spent the £50,000 between October 2020, when the money arrived in the firm’s bank account, and May 2021. The money was not used to support his business.

Under the rules of the Bounce Back Loan scheme, businesses could claim up to 25% of their 2019 turnover, up to a maximum of £50,000.

Houssein signed a Bankruptcy Restrictions Undertaking in which he did not dispute that he had given false information to claim a £50,000 Bounce Back Loan to which he was not fully entitled.

He also did not dispute that he had failed to use the money for the economic benefit of his business – a further breach of the loan scheme rules.

Houssein must abide by the restrictions, which extend the terms of his original bankruptcy – usually a 12-month period – for another 11 years.

They prevent him from acting as a company director without permission from the court, and from borrowing more than £500 without declaring that he is subject to the sanctions. The restrictions also prevent him holding certain roles in public organisations.

The Secretary of State for Business and Trade accepted the undertaking on 7 January 2025. The restrictions will run until 6 January 2036.

So presumably the £50k is down the drain and the public purse can't recover it?

Doesn't seem much in the way of sanction for this - I mean, not many 'taxi' drivers would want require to be a company director anyway, especially given that he's getting on a bit. And that kind of sounds a bit like a normal sort of insolvency sanction, even without falsely claiming the loan

I mean, no criminal proceedings, or whatever? Of course, that could be a totally different process, but you get the impression from the above that this is it.

Of course, he may well have had substantial other business interests and/or a company directorship, or whatever. But the stuff above has just zeroed in on the BBL stuff, but who knows?

If he has managed to get work outside of the taxi/PH trade then he has hit the jackpot.

Fifty grand in his bin and just a don't do it again letter.

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IDFIMH

As underlined by the most recent case, again you have to ask why this guy wasn't prosecuted?

This is out and out fraud the penalties should be much harsher

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector