Luton IT consultant given business directorship ban after concealing Covid loan

A Luton businessman has been given a 13-year directorship ban after he was caught applying for two Covid loans and failing to declare one he had already received when his company went into liquidation.

Syzmon Jastrzebski, of Buxton Road, Luton, was the sole director of E Marketing Ltd, a software development and IT support firm. The Insolvency Service said that in May 2020, he applied for two Bounce Back Loans worth the maximum £50,000. But, E Marketing stopped trading a month later and was liquidated in July 2021.

Jastrzebski failed to inform insolvency practitioners that he had received the first loan, which only came to light during investigations into his conduct by the Insolvency Service.

E Marketing failed to maintain adequate accounting records from its incorporation in October 2019 until liquidation. Investigators were unable to confirm if the loans were used for the economic benefit of the business. Payments of more than £500,000 to third parties between March 2020 and June 2021, which were also not explained by Jastrzebski.

Jastrzebski did not contest the proceedings and was not present at the final disqualification hearing. On March 26, he was handed the disqualification order at the Bristol Business and Property Court. Jastrzebski was also ordered to pay £3,566.

The order, which started on April 16, stops the 24-year-old from becoming involved in the promotion, formation or management of a company, without the permission of the court.

Kevin Read, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said: “Syzmon Jastrzebski caused his E Marketing business to breach the conditions of the Bounce Back Loan Scheme, designed to support business during the pandemic.

“Jastrzebski applied for two Bounce Back Loans when the rules of the scheme were very clear that only one application could be made for an individual business. He compounded this by failing to disclose the existence of the first loan he secured when his company went into liquidation.

“The 13-year disqualification order made reflects the serious nature of the breach of acceptable behaviour for any company director by Jastrzebski and means he cannot be involved in the promotion, formation or management of a company in the UK for that period.”