A RESTAURANT boss has been disqualified from running companies for seven years after he was found to owe tax authorities £130,000.

Church View Restaurant Ltd was incorporated in July 2014 and traded as Ministers Restaurant on Church View, Sedgefield - once frequented by former Prime Minister and Sedgefield MP Tony Blair.

Its sole director Abdul Amin, from Sunderland, was required to register the company for tax purposes but failed to do so.

In 2016, the 51-year-old restaurant boss was the subject of enquiries by the authorities for unpaid taxes.

Despite the scrutiny placed on Church View Restaurant, the company still did not pay its tax liabilities, totalling more than £133,000.

This resulted in the tax authorities petitioning for Church View Restaurant’s liquidation, which happened in August 2019, and it was then referred to the Insolvency Service, which pursued disqualification proceedings against Abdul Amin for director misconduct.

On October 13, 2020, the Secretary of State accepted a disqualification undertaking from Abdul Amin after he did not dispute that he failed to ensure Church View Restaurant Ltd complied with its statutory tax obligations.

Mr Amin was banned from directly or indirectly becoming involved, without the permission of the court, in the promotion, formation or management of a company for seven years from November 3, 2020.

Rob Clarke, Chief Investigator for the Insolvency Service, said: "Directors have statutory requirements to ensure their companies pay taxes.

"But our investigations uncovered that Abdul Amin’s behaviour was deliberate, putting Church View Restaurant at an unfair advantage over their competitors by not paying taxes.

"Seven years is a substantial amount of time to be removed from the corporate arena and Abdul Amin’s ban should serve as a warning to other rogue directors that if you neglect your obligations you could lose the privilege of limited liability trading."