- Zaman Shaa fraudulently secured a £30,000 Covid Bounce Back Loan during the pandemic
- He illegally applied to dissolve his business and failed to inform creditors of his actions
- Shaa was handed a suspended sentence, banned as a company director for two years, and ordered to pay costs of £6,000
An Indian takeaway owner who used the funds from a Covid Bounce Back Loan for his own personal gain and ignored company law has been sentenced.
Zaman Shaa was sentenced to 36 weeks in prison, suspended for 18 months, when he appeared at Winchester Crown Court on Friday 23 February.
He was ordered to pay £6,000 in costs, at a rate of £250 per month, at the same hearing.
The 53-year-old was also disqualified as a company director for two years.
Pete Fulham, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said:
Zaman Shaa exploited a scheme intended to help businesses during a national emergency for his own personal gain.
His actions cannot simply be dismissed as something he did in the spur of the moment. They required a degree of planning and sophistication over a number of weeks to execute.
The sentence and disqualification order for Shaa demonstrate we will not hesitate to take action against directors who have abused Covid financial support in such a manner.
Shaa, of Woodside Road, Salisbury, applied for a £30,000 Bounce Back Loan in August 2020 when he was the director of Shaa Ventures Ltd.
His company used to manage the Chutneys Indian takeaway on Estcourt Road, Salisbury.
Shaa broke company law before securing the loan by applying to dissolve his business, even though it had been trading in the previous three months.
He also failed to fulfil his legal requirement to inform creditors that he had applied to dissolve the company.
Insolvency Service analysis of Shaa's transactions indicated he transferred the funds into his personal accounts, sent some of the money abroad using a remittance service, and withdrew significant amounts in cash.
The disqualification order prevents Shaa from becoming involved in the promotion, formation or management of a company, without the permission of the court before February 2026.
Shaa no longer has any involvement at the takeaway.
