Patrick Lau, 46, has been sentenced to 16 months imprisonment, suspended for two years after pleading guilty to four counts of fraud under the Insolvency Act 1986.
Lau had been sole director of Big Wok Ltd, which traded as a Chinese buffet restaurant in Birmingham until it went into liquidation in 2018.
His company had been insolvent from at least March 2018, but despite correctly seeking advice from an insolvency practitioner, Lau proceeded to make payments of nearly £100,000 to himself and two other individuals, rather than repay his debts as legally required to do. Amongst its debts was £30,000 in unpaid tax.
Following an initial investigation by the Insolvency Service, Lau signed a six-year disqualification undertaking which came into effect on 15 December 2020.
However, he did not engage with the subsequent Insolvency Service criminal investigation, and he had relocated to Hong Kong by 2020. Due to his lack of co-operation Lau was placed on a UK Border alert list, and the Insolvency Service secured an arrest warrant when notified that Lau was flying to the UK on 27 January 2023.
He pleaded guilty to all charges at Birmingham Magistrates Court on 2 March 2023. He was sentenced on 24 May at Birmingham Crown Court.
The court also ordered that he pay £3,000 in costs and complete 200 hours unpaid work.
John McFadian, Chief Examiner at the Insolvency Service said:
"As the judge pointed out during sentencing, this kind of behaviour is not a victimless crime. It causes real hardship to innocent creditors, and has resulted in the public purse being short-changed."
Notes
Patrick Yin Fai Lau is of Hong Kong and his date of birth is December 1976.
Big Wok Ltd (company reg no. 07285440).
Patrick Lau was convicted of four counts of Fraud in Winding Up contrary to section 206(1)(b) of the Insolvency Act 1986, and one count of failure to maintain, and keep records, contrary to section 389 of the Companies Act 2006 and section 387 of the Companies Act respectively.
The sentence result was announced at Birmingham Crown Court by Recorder Abdul Iqbal KC.
