Since 2008, Matthew Akinola Babatunji Lasebikan (43), from Port Talbot, ran an Asian-style takeaway under the guise of several different companies. More commonly known as Noodlebox, the takeaway was located on Salisbury Road in Cardiff.
However, on 19 February 2016 Matthew Lasebikan provided a disqualification undertaking to the Secretary of State, which saw him being banned from running companies for three-and-a-half years.
Matthew Lasebikan was disqualified after he caused the company that controlled the Cardiff takeaway, Tokyo Noodles Limited, to run up significant tax debts between 2014 and 2016 and during part of this period he acted as the director despite not formally being appointed.
The ban should have restricted Matthew Lasebikan from being appointed a director or managing a company. However, at the same time he gave the disqualification undertaking, Matthew Lasebikan was the appointed director of Noodles Catering Ltd – the latest company set up to run the takeaway.
Matthew Lasebikan resigned a month later on 10 March, with Tomasz Posieczek appointed in his place. Tomasz Posieczek had been employed as a chef in another business owned by Matthew Lasebikan but he was merely a patsy as Matthew Lasebikan continued to run Noodles Catering Ltd, even though he had been banned from doing so.
Noodles Catering eventually went into liquidation on 21 December 2016 with liabilities of just over £86,000 and the liquidator’s report to the Secretary of State brought a spotlight onto Matthew Lasebikan’s activities.
On 19 December 2018, the Secretary of State accepted a disqualification undertaking from Matthew Lasebikan after he admitted acting as a director whilst subject to a disqualification undertaking and without getting leave of the Court to do so.
Effective from 9 January 2019, Matthew Lasebikan is banned for 11 years from directly or indirectly becoming involved, without the permission of the court, in the promotion, formation or management of a company.
And Tomasz Posieczek previously had his disqualification undertaking accepted in November 2017 after he admitted that he allowed Matthew Lasebikan to act as a director of Noodles Catering. His ban was effective from 19 December 2017 and lasts for two-and-a-half years.
David Elliott, Chief Investigator for the Insolvency Service said:
Matthew Lasebikan thought he had got round his disqualification by having one of his employee’s names on the records, while he still ran the show behind the scenes.
Both Matthew Lasebikan and Tomasz Posieczek were at fault and their bans should serve as an important warning that people who accept disqualifications or appointments as directors should be fully aware of their duties.
Matthew Lasebikan is of Port Talbot and his date of birth is January 1976.
Tomasz Posieczek is of Cardiff and his date of birth is May 1982
Company Noodles Catering Ltd (Company Reg no. 08939037).
A disqualification order has the effect that without specific permission of a court, a person with a disqualification cannot:
- act as a director of a company
- take part, directly or indirectly, in the promotion, formation or management of a company or limited liability partnership
- be a receiver of a company’s property
Disqualification undertakings are the administrative equivalent of a disqualification order but do not involve court proceedings.
Persons subject to a disqualification order are bound by a range of other restrictions.
The Insolvency Service administers the insolvency regime, investigating all compulsory liquidations and individual insolvencies (bankruptcies) through the Official Receiver to establish why they became insolvent. It may also use powers under the Companies Act 1985 to conduct confidential fact-finding investigations into the activities of live limited companies in the UK. In addition, the agency authorises and regulates the insolvency profession, deals with disqualification of directors in corporate failures, 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.
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