A London lettings agency director has received a 12-month suspended prison sentence after being convicted of fraudulently transferring over \u00a3105,000 from his company as it entered receivership.<\/p>\n
Ghanshyam Sarup Batra, 63, of Sedge Hill, Roydon, Essex, was found guilty at the Old Bailey of one count of fraud in anticipation of winding-up under the Insolvency Act 1986. He was director of Dylan Lettings Worldwide Limited, which operated short-stay rental properties marketed as aparthotels before entering liquidation.<\/p>\n
The court heard that Batra had been ordered to pay more than \u00a36.5 million after mortgage lenders called in personal debts. Within one hour of that order, \u00a350,000 was transferred from the company account to his personal account. Over a four-day period, whilst the company\u2019s assets were being transferred to a receiver, Batra moved a total of \u00a3105,690.<\/p>\n
Batra claimed he was entitled to withdraw the funds, but a jury unanimously rejected his defence. Chief Investigator Chris Wood stated: \u201cGhanshyam Sarup Batra knew exactly what he was doing when he emptied the company\u2019s bank account. This was a deliberate and dishonest act, and the jury saw through his attempts to justify it.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Batra had already been disqualified as a company director for seven years in 2021. He was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment, suspended for 18 months.<\/p>\n
Insolvency records show that when Dylan Lettings Worldwide went into liquidation, no assets were realised and no dividends were paid to creditors. Batra has since been declared bankrupt. According to The Standard, the Insolvency Service is now seeking confiscation of funds under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.<\/p>\n
The case highlights ongoing regulatory scrutiny of company directors\u2019 conduct during insolvency proceedings, particularly in the lettings and short-term rental sectors where client funds and creditor interests require protection.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A London lettings agency director has received a 12-month suspended prison sentence after being convicted of fraudulently transferring over \u00a3105,000 from his company as it entered receivership. Ghanshyam Sarup Batra, 63, of Sedge Hill, Roydon, Essex, was found guilty at the Old Bailey of one count of fraud in anticipation of winding-up under the Insolvency […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8618,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8617","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-second-home"],"yoast_head":"\n