A Cornwall restaurateur has been disqualified from directing any companies after fraudulently applying for two bounce back loans worth £100,000 during the Covid pandemic. They were two separate £50,000 loans when he was only entitled to one.
Taskin Muzaffer, 54, of Penzance, applied for two loans under the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) for his business in 2020. Then called Pedler Peckham LTD, later renamed to Omega Profit Ltd, the business loans totalled £100,000 contrary to the terms of the scheme.
The businessman, who is involved with the running of The Godolphin at Marazion, Unicorn on the Beach at Porthtowan and is involved in refurbishing The Vault in Penzance, falsely declared he had not yet applied for such a loan when he applied for a second one. His co-owned company The Happiness Cartel, also opened London restaurant Pedler and former restaurant Shutters, in Canary Wharf.
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During the pandemic, any limited company was entitled to apply for one bounce back loan of up to 25 per cent of its 2019 turnover up to a maximum of £50,000 under the BBL scheme. Five months apart, Mr Muzaffer had applied to two different lenders for the full amount for the same company.
Based on its annual turnover the business - where Mr Muzaffer acted as director from May 29, 2018, to April 18, 2022, when his appointment as director was terminated - was entitled to one bounce back loan of £50,000. On May 11, 2020, Mr Muzaffer applied for the sum of £50,000 which was paid to the company and he made a second application on October 16, 2020, which was also paid.
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The two payments of £50,000 went into separate business bank accounts. The Government Insolvency Service said the terms and conditions required the applicant to self-declare that they had not made any other application for a BBL for the business.
It further added that Mr Muzaffer, who came under fire this week over claims his hotel is not paying staff on time, falsely declared the business had not previously applied for and obtained a BBL with another lender when he had. The business was wound up on April 26 2023 and at liquidation had liabilities of £263,364.42. Of that, £101,982.52 was owed to the banks about the BBLs taken. Read the full story of employees of the Godolphin being paid late and ending up in debts and financial problems here.
As a result, he was banned from being a director for 11 years. The order started on April 15 of this year - three months ago. When contacted for comment Mr Muzaffer said a full repayment plan had been offered to HMRC.
He also said that Omega Profit Ltd was a name that the new operators chose when they took over the site and he was never a director of the business whilst it was under that name.
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