Press release

Birmingham fireworks trader jailed after forging documents to pocket Covid loan and company funds

Director jailed for fraud, forgery and insolvency offences

From:
The Insolvency Service
Published
2 December 2024

  • Raashid Khan forged four documents to prevent restrictions being placed on his business bank account and to avoid having to pay a company £75,000 for fireworks 

  • Khan also secured a maximum-value Covid Bounce Back Loan just weeks before his business was liquidated and fraudulently withdrew more than £60,000 after his company had been wound-up by the High Court 

  • Insolvency Service investigations have resulted in the 29-year-old being sentenced to four years in prison 

The director of a Birmingham-based fireworks retailer has been jailed after forging documents, fraudulently obtaining a Covid loan and removing more than £60,000 in company money. 

Raashid Khan was the director of Ikandy Wholesale Ltd, which traded in bulk goods, including fireworks and meat. 

The 29-year-old admitted sending a fake letter to a company chasing him for payment for £75,000 of fireworks and a forged court document to his bank to unfreeze his business account. 

He also secured a £50,000 Bounce Back Loan his business was not entitled to and transferred funds out of his company account when Ikandy had entered liquidation. 

Khan, of Trafalgar Road, Moseley, Birmingham, pleaded guilty to fraud, forgery and insolvency offences at a pre-trial review hearing in October this year. 

He was sentenced to four years in prison at Birmingham Crown Court on Thursday 28 November. 

Mark Stephens, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said: 

“Raashid Khan’s actions were highly deceptive, devious, and completely fraudulent. His behaviour showed an utter disregard for the insolvency regime which exists to deliver economic confidence to businesses.  

“Khan not only forged three documents to his bank but sent a fake letter to a creditor chasing him for payment. His fraudulent actions extended to lying on an application to receive taxpayers’ money during the first few months of the pandemic. 

“The Insolvency Service will not tolerate such an abuse of public money and flagrant attempts to deprive creditors of money they are owed when a company goes into liquidation.” 

Khan became a director at Ikandy Wholesale Ltd in October 2018, which was incorporated under a similar name, Ikandycam Ltd, in December 2015. 

Ikandy opened a bank account with Santander in February 2019 and a trade account with a fireworks company in October of that year. 

In an email to the fireworks company, Khan explained that Ikandy had more than 300 retailers that they supplied, and he wanted to open a trade account to buy fireworks at wholesale prices. 

One month later, the fireworks company requested a payment from Khan of £75,853 for goods they had provided to Ikandy. 

But Khan sent a forged document to the company which he said was from Santander. The letter falsely claimed that his business account was under investigation due to a fraudulent transaction which took place earlier in November 2019 which meant he could not make any payments from it. 

Five months later, in March 2020, the fireworks company applied to have Ikandy wound-up due to its unpaid debts. Restrictions were then placed on the company’s bank account. 

Khan circumvented these restrictions in May 2020 by forging a document sent to Santander. The document claimed that the High Court had dismissed the winding-up petition against Ikandy. 

In his email to Santander, Khan said that he hoped this would assist them in reinstating his business account. 

Just eight days after his email to Santander, Khan fraudulently applied for a £50,000 Covid Bounce Back Loan, the maximum permitted under the scheme which was introduced to support small and medium-sized businesses during the pandemic. 

Khan stated that the turnover for Ikandy was £1.5 million in 2019 and declared on the application that he would use the loan wholly for the benefit of his business, even though he knew the company was in the process of being liquidated. 

Ikandy entered liquidation in June 2020 owing trade creditors more than £240,000. Restrictions were again put on the business account by Santander to prevent any further transactions. 

Khan forged two more documents later that month, asking Santander to “put my account back to normal” as he falsely claimed that the High Court had dismissed the winding-up petition and the original creditor had been repaid in full. 

Both of these statements were untrue, but Ikandy’s account restrictions were lifted and on the same day, Khan fraudulently withdrew a total of £62,158. 

Khan was disqualified as a company director for 12 years in January 2021. 

Further information 

Updates to this page

Published 2 December 2024