Based in London, Lika’s company Blue Universal Ltd gave its principal trading activity as floristry and building maintenance. However, the Insolvency Service said that without sufficient accounting records, it was not possible to verify what all the payments of £579,058 out of the company bank account were for.

This amount included £86,310 in cash withdrawals and £205,520 in transfers to Lika that occurred during the period from October 2010 to liquidation in October 2013. During this period, no payments were made to HMRC in respect of taxation due.

The Insolvency Service said Lika acknowledged that he had failed to deliver up sales invoices for the construction/maintenance side of the business to the joint liquidators.

At liquidation, the company also failed to comply with its statutory obligations to HMRC and had not submitted any VAT returns to HMRC for six years (June 2007 to June 2013) or PAYE returns for the tax years commencing 2008 through to 2012.

In addition, no annual accounts were prepared and filed for periods ending September 2009 to September 2012.

Lawrence Zussman a deputy head of investigations with the Insolvency Service said: ‘This disqualification sends a clear message to other company directors: If you fail to comply with statutory legislation because you do not maintain sufficient company records to satisfactorily explain payments, or if you treat creditors such as HMRC differently to others, then you have not taken your responsibilities as a director seriously and The Insolvency Service will not hesitate to investigate and you run the risk of being removed from the business environment.’