Navdip Singh Talwar aged 32, a bankrupt from Derby, was a senior employee of a company which carried out a massive tax fraud.

In 2012, seven men involved in VAT fraud estimated at £45m were given jail sentences ranging from ten to 15 years.

A six-year investigation by HMRC had found that the men, along with their friends, fraudulently operated six companies, buying and selling mobile phones and CD ROMs.

Navdip Singh Talwar, who was a senior employee of the company, but not a director, had a duty to exercise reasonable skill and care in the performance of his duties.

However, the trial heard, he knowingly assisted the director of the company to engage in tax fraud.

As a result of his dishonest assistance and following legal action by the liquidator, Mr Talwar consented to pay £23m.

Being unable to repay the £23m, Mr Talwar petitioned for his own bankruptcy in June 2017.

Following his bankruptcy, Mr Talwar’s conduct was looked into by a specialist team of investigators of the Insolvency Service.

If the Official Receiver considers that the conduct of a bankrupt has been dishonest or blameworthy in some other way, those facts can be reported to court, with a request for a Bankruptcy Restrictions Order (BRO) to be made. The court will consider this report and any other evidence and decide whether to make a BRO. If it does, the bankrupt will be subject to certain restrictions for a period between 2 to 15 years. The bankrupt may instead agree to a Bankruptcy Restrictions Undertaking (BRU) which has the same effect as an order, but will mean that the matter does not go to court.

On 17 May 2018, the Secretary of State accepted a BRU from Navdip Singh Talwar after he admitted to providing dishonest assistance to a company engaged in tax fraud.

His ban is effective from 17 May 2018 and lasts for 11 years.

Mr Ken Beasley, the Official Receiver of Public Interest Unit (North), part of the Insolvency Service, stated:

The Insolvency Service will take firm action when we find fraud in the market place.

Due to his actions, Mr Talwar was found liable for £23m and the consequence of his activities should serve as a lesson and deter others from acting in the same way.

The protection of limited liability is at risk when individuals participate in fraud or attempt to remove themselves from the firing line by not registering as a company director and action will be taken against them, whether they are a company director or an employee.

Notes to editors

Mr Navdip Singh Talwar is from Derby and his date of birth is December 1985.

Mr Talwar has given an undertaking to the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, to be bound for eleven years, by the restrictions set out in insolvency law that a bankrupt is subject to until they are discharged from bankruptcy – normally 12 months – until 2029. In addition, he cannot manage or control a company during this period without leave of the court.

The restrictions set out in insolvency law that the bankrupt is subject to until they are discharged from bankruptcy – normally 12 months – include that bankrupts:

• must disclose their status to a credit provider if they wish to get credit of more than £500;
• who carry on business in a different name from the name in which they were made bankrupt, they must disclose to those they wish to do business with the name (or trading style) under which they were made bankrupt
• may not act as the director of a company nor take part in its promotion, formation or management unless they have a court’s permission to do so
• may not act as an insolvency practitioner, or as the receiver or manager of the property of a company on behalf of debenture holders
• may not be a Member of Parliament in England or Wales

The Insolvency Service, an executive agency sponsored by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS), administers the insolvency regime, and aims to deliver and promote a range of investigation and enforcement activities both civil and criminal in nature, to support fair and open markets. We do this by effectively enforcing the statutory company and insolvency regimes, maintaining public confidence in those regimes and reducing the harm caused to victims of fraudulent activity and to the business community, including dealing with the disqualification of directors in corporate failures.

BEIS’ mission is to build a dynamic and competitive UK economy that works for all, in particular by creating the conditions for business success and promoting an open global economy. The Criminal Investigations and Prosecutions team contributes to this aim by taking action to deter fraud and to regulate the market. They investigate and prosecute a range of offences, primarily relating to personal or company insolvencies.

The agency also authorises and regulates the insolvency profession, assesses and pays statutory entitlement to redundancy payments when an employer cannot or will not pay employees, provides banking and investment services for bankruptcy and liquidation estate funds and advises ministers and other government departments on insolvency law and practice.

Further information about the work of the Insolvency Service, and how to complain about financial misconduct, is available.

Media enquiries for this press release – 020 7674 6910 or 020 7596 6187

You can also follow the Insolvency Service on:

Thousands of small businesses have won the chance to bid to supply cloud computing services to government bodies through a major government procurement framework.

G-Cloud 10, which could eventually be worth £600 million, is now open for business.

3,505 suppliers – with more than 90 per cent of them SMEs – have been awarded places on the new Crown Commercial Service framework. G-Cloud 10 has 3,505 suppliers – 649 more than G-Cloud 9.

Since 2012, more than £3 billion of cloud and digital services have been procured by public bodies through G-Cloud, with 48 per cent of that spend going directly to SMEs.

G-Cloud gives central government, local councils, NHS Trusts and other public sector bodies a way to purchase cloud-based services such as web hosting from a single, central website.

Oliver Dowden, Minister for Implementation says:

Small businesses are the backbone of our economy, delivering innovative solutions in partnership with the public sector, fuelling economic growth and supporting the delivery of efficient, effective public services that meet the needs of citizens.

The success of G-Cloud demonstrates how we are breaking down the barriers for SMEs who want to supply to government.

UKCloud, an SME based in Farnborough, has been a G-Cloud supplier since the agreement began in 2012. Since then it has grown from a start-up employing 6 to now employing 200 – with well-established undergraduate and apprenticeship programmes.

Simon Hansford, CEO of UKCloud said:

The UK government’s initial introduction of the G-Cloud framework was ground-breaking and provided a level playing field for government technology suppliers that has been copied across the world. With each iteration the framework has seen enhanced functionality and an increased volume of transactions as it has supported a thriving ecosystem of UK tech SMEs that have succeeded in winning business through it.’

G-Cloud is accessed through the Digital Marketplace – created in 2014 by Crown Commercial Service and Government Digital Service to make government procurement easier and more transparent.

To find out more about G-Cloud, visit the Digital Marketplace.

Police wellbeing is the focus of a new goal being launched today (Tuesday 3 July) by the Home Office in conjunction with partners in policing and mental health.

Partners who developed the goal pledge to work together to boost the welfare support available to police officers and staff in England and Wales over the next 3 years.

The Home Secretary was clear in his speech to the Police Federation in May that he wanted to “totally transform the welfare provision” for police. Today’s goal represents the result of 6 months of engagement by the Minister for Policing and the Fire Service with policing partners and health experts, and sets out a shared vision for ensuring police officers and staff have the support they need to flourish.

The minister has joined major policing groups, including the Police Federation, National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), and the College of Policing, in drawing up the new goal.

The goal has also received the backing of Mind, the mental health charity which provides support to over half a million people in England and Wales.

Minister for Policing and the Fire Service Nick Hurd said:

We have heard the message that police welfare support must improve. Officers put themselves in harm’s way to protect the public, so it’s vital the government and chief officers have their back.

This goal represents a real step towards police leaders ensuring every member of their force feels valued and supported, but it won’t solve the issue by itself – action must follow.

By signing up to the goal, police leaders pledge to create a culture in forces that focuses on early intervention to help officers and staff. The goal also demands that forces provide key forms of assistance – including occupational health and effective line management – and signposts to other providers, including police charities, which can support officers or staff facing specific challenges.

The goal grew out of a roundtable chaired by the minister in January, which was attended by police leaders and health experts. The minister will chair a second roundtable on the issue today.

The goal complements existing funding from the government to improve the tools and resources available to police officers and staff.

The former Home Secretary awarded £7.5 million to the College of Policing in July 2017 over 3 years to pilot and, if successful, fund a dedicated national welfare service. The funding covers a mapping project that will provide a clearer picture of the welfare needs of police forces across England and Wales.

The government has also awarded £7 million to Mind to fund their Blue Light Wellbeing Programme – which provides mental health support to members of the emergency services – and £1.5 million to the Police Treatment Centre in Harrogate, which treats police officers suffering from illness or injury.

You can read the full text of the police wellbeing goal.