THREE businessmen who ran a now-liquidated Bolton poultry company have been disqualified from acting as company directors or management of a firm for five-and-a-half years.

The three directors of Balal Poultry Products Ltd, at Wharf Mill in Kirkebrok Road, Deane, failed to keep proper books and records or pay taxes.

The disqualifications of Abdullah Rhana, aged 45, Bilal Rana, 38, and Mahmud Akhtar, 43, followed an investigation by the Insolvency Service.

All three admitted failing to ensure the company, which processed and supplied poultry products to the food industry, maintained adequate accounting records.

As a result, it was not possible for the liquidator to collect £24,800 believed to be owed to the company, or establish what had happened to computers and accessories bought for £10,000 shortly before the insolvency.

The poor quality of the records provided also meant it was impossible to accurately determine the sales income of the company or account for payments to the directors, including two payments of £20,000 just three months before the company failed.

The three men did not file the company tax returns with HM Revenue and Customs or make payments of its tax debts, leaving at least £46,411 outstanding at the firm’s liquidation.

Robert Clarke, head of Insolvent Investigations North, said: “Directors have a duty to make sure that their companies maintain proper accounting records, and, following insolvency, deliver them to the office-holder in the interests of fairness and transparency.

“Without a full account of transactions it is impossible to determine whether a director has discharged his duties properly, or is using a lack of documentation as a cloak for impropriety.

“These three directors have paid the price for failing to do that, as they cannot now carry on in business other than at their own risk.”

The company entered Creditors Voluntary Liquidation on October 11, 2011, with assets of £7,523 and liabilities of £585,759.