A property boss has been given a ban after claiming a £50,000 state loan she may not have been entitled to.

Rabia Noreen Haque, 37, claimed the government’s coronavirus bounce back loan (BBL) but failed to ensure her company maintained adequate accounting records, a report has found.

Ms Haque, of Alfred Street, Bury, was company director at R Noreen Ltd but did not maintain or preserve accounting records and failed to present these records to the liquidator.

Therefore, government agency The Insolvency Service was unable to determine whether the company was eligible for the loan, or if the funds were used for legitimate business expenses.

The BBL was a scheme put in place to help small and medium-sized businesses take out a loan of up to £50,000 to help them through the coronavirus pandemic.

In a report, The Insolvency Service said: “It has not been possible to determine; that [R Noreen Ltd] was trading on 01 March 2020 and therefore eligible to apply for a Bounce Back Loan (“BBL”) at all.

“[Or] following receipt of BBL funds of £50,000 on 13 May 2020 the £50,000 withdrawn in cash between 26 May 2020 and 15 July 2020 was used for the legitimate trading expenses and economic benefit of RN and not for personal use, as per the terms of the BBL scheme.”

Ms Haque was disqualified from being a company director for seven years and her company, which involved the buying and selling of real estate, has been liquidated.