Tariq Sarwar

Tariq Sarwar, a 59-year-old disqualified director from Alderley Edge, UK, has been involved in significant criminal proceedings related to a £3 million insolvency fraud and money laundering scheme. He was sentenced at Manchester Crown Court on Friday, June 12, 2026.

Key Facts and Charges:

• Sarwar fraudulently transferred over £3 million from the sale of a commercial property in Salford. This occurred when his company was in financial difficulty and likely to be wound up, and he did so without paying off debts to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and other creditors.
• The money was laundered through a network of accounts and companies controlled by his associate, Christopher Francis, and then returned to Sarwar.
• Creditors were left owed more than £500,000, while Sarwar maintained a lavish lifestyle, including a six-bedroom home and a chauffeur-driven Rolls-Royce.
• Sarwar had been previously disqualified as a company director for 11 years in November 2013 for siphoning company funds, a ban that was set to run until late 2024.
• Despite this disqualification, he continued to act as a director for A Property Management Limited (between November 2014 and July 2018) and Willowloch Limited (from April 2015), using his wife and son as fronts.
• He admitted charges of fraudulently removing assets in anticipation of winding-up and acting as a company director while disqualified.

Court Appearances and Decisions:

• Legal proceedings began with both Sarwar and Francis initially pleading not guilty in January 2023.
• Sarwar later changed his plea to guilty in April 2026 for one count of fraud anticipating winding-up and two counts of acting in contravention of a disqualification order.
• On June 12, 2026, at Manchester Crown Court, Tariq Sarwar was sentenced to four years in prison and banned as a company director for 10 years.
• His co-defendant, Christopher Francis, pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering and received a 25-month suspended sentence for two years, along with 250 hours of unpaid work.
• The Insolvency Service is pursuing confiscation proceedings to recover Sarwar's ill-gotten gains.