A former director of a takeaway in Oldham has received a lengthy ban after it emerged she exploited a Covid loan scheme to gain £35,000 and breached regulations.

Rukia Begum was the company director of the takeaway, New Polash Indian Cuisine, situated on 149 Drury Lane in Chadderton, from September 20, 2018, to October 20, 2020.

While the takeaway has a complex web of ownership since its inception in 2016, where the Insolvency Service is concerned is in regard to Mrs Begum's conduct as the director of New Polash Oldham Limited.

In a notice published this month, the Insolvency Service found Mrs Begum provided "misleading information to a bank" in order to obtain a Bounce Back Loan (BBL) of £35,000.

The BBL scheme was created to help companies recover from the impact of the pandemic.

But the disqualification listing claims Mrs Begum "knew or ought to have known" that the business was only eligible for a maximum loan of £11,016.

This is because the BBL scheme only permitted businesses to apply for a loan between £2,000 to £50,000 subject to a maximum of up to 25 per cent of turnover in the year 2019.

Between January to December 2019, sales income from the takeaway totalled £44,062, yet Mrs Begum provided a "self-declaration" that turnover was £154,500 on May 8, 2020.

The inflated figures meant the company received £35,000 in respect of the BBL - more than double the eligible amount.

In addition, the Insolvency Service found Mrs Begum further breached Section 1003 of the Companies Act as, less than two months after applying for the BBL, she made an application to strike off the company on Companies House.

Section 1004 of the Companies Act indicates a strike-off application may not be made "if, at any time in the previous three months, the company has traded or otherwise carried on business".

The 46-year-old has now been banned as a director of any company for 10 years starting from February 9 this year.

New Polash Oldham Limited was voluntarily dissolved on October 20, 2020, and the takeaway is now under new directorship.

Public records on Companies House suggest the takeaway has had a high turnover of company names and directors in the past seven years.

In the first instance, New Polash Takeaway Limited was incorporated in August 2016 with Mr Juned Hussain Chowdhury appointed as the director.

The company was then dissolved voluntarily in February 2019.

Then, Miss Jesmin Begum was listed as director of the company, New Polash Ltd, from July 2020 until June 2022.

The takeaway was also under the control of Miss Maria Begum who acted as director of the company, New Polash Chadderton Ltd, from December 2021 until June 2022.

Now, however, the takeaway is back under the ownership again of Mr Juned Hussain Chowdhury under the company name, Foodmaster NW, which was incorporated on March 9, 2022.

New Polash Indian Cuisine has been approached for comment.