A businessman who wanted to be Mayor of London has been sentenced for a “deliberate and dishonest” £105,000 fraud.
Lettings boss Ghanshyam Sarup Batra, 63, was director of a company managing four “Aparthotels” when he drained its bank account, leaving just only £3.48 for creditors.
It happened during a four-day period when London-based Dylan Lettings Worldwide Limited had assets transferred to a receiver.
By May 2017, a number of mortgage companies had called in debts personally owed by Batra – who is pictured on his Facebook page with Hollywood star John Travolta.
He was subsequently ordered by a court to pay more than £6.5 million to settle the amounts outstanding.
Just 45 minutes later, Batra siphoned £50,000 from the firm’s business account to his personal one, the maximum amount he thought he was allowed to remove in one go.
Batra transferred a further £49,000 to his bank the following day, moving a total of £105,690 across the four days.
Batra, also known as Shyam Batra, pleaded his innocence, accepting that he removed the money but claiming that he believed he was entitled to withdraw it.
However, this was rejected and a jury who unanimously found him guilty of one count of fraud in anticipation of winding-up under the Insolvency Act 1986 following a six-day trial at the Old Bailey.
He was sentenced to 12 months in prison, suspended for 18 months, on Tuesday.
Ghanshyam Sarup Batra, also known as Shyam Batra
Batra, of Sedge Hill, Roydon, Essex remains banned as a company director until March 2028, having been disqualified for seven years in 2021.
He announced his intention to stand as an independent in the 2024 London mayoral elections but was ultimately not nominated and did not appear on the ballot.
Describing himself as a property and finance broker who wanted to “give people a voice”, Batra promised to abolish the Ulez, the congestion zone and 20mph speed limits.
The wannabe politician, who styled himself as an “Ambassador for Hope”, also claimed aliens live among us and have “been here for a long time”, adding in January 2024: “They’re also blending into our communities without us and live way longer”.
The Insolvency Service is also seeking confiscation of funds against Batra under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.
Chief Investigator Chris Wood said: “Ghanshyam Sarup Batra knew exactly what he was doing when he emptied the company’s bank account.
“Within an hour of losing control of the business, he began moving money into his own pocket, leaving creditors with nothing.
“This was a deliberate and dishonest act, and the jury saw through his attempts to justify it.
“This conviction should serve as a warning that we will pursue those who try to cheat creditors out of money they are owed.”
Dylan Lettings Worldwide Limited was incorporated in May 2010, with Batra the sole director at the time of the offending.
The properties it managed were described as aparthotels, a type of business providing self-catering apartments as well as ordinary hotel facilities.
Dylan Lettings Worldwide Limited, formerly of St Albans Road, Watford entered liquidation in October 2017 and was dissolved two years later.
The insolvency practitioner dealing with the liquidation recorded that no assets were realised and no dividends paid to creditors.
Batra was declared bankrupt in January 2025. Bankruptcy restrictions are usually discharged after 12 months but Batra’s discharge was suspended indefinitely after he failed to co-operate with the Official Receiver.
