By-election for Warwick Myton and Heathcote District Ward to take place at same time as General Election after former councillor is disqualified

Warwick District Council has said: "The council became aware via a press statement from The Insolvency Service that the now former ward councillor Sukhi Sanghera, who had only been elected to the seat in May, had accepted a bankruptcy restrictions undertaking and so was disqualified from being a Member of Warwick District Council effective from 15 August 2019.

"Mr Sanghera is no longer an elected member.

"The office is vacant and the by-election will take place on 12 December 2019.

"If you have any ward enquiries, please contact either Councillor Mary Noone or Councillor Neale Murphy."

Voting for the by-election will take place at polling stations in the ward between 7am to 10pm.

Details of polling stations will be released soon.

The Insolvency Service has reported that Mr Sanghera has had his restrictions extended for ten years after he failed to disclose a solely owned rental property to the Official Receiver.

Mr Sanghera, 50, was made bankrupt in August 2017 by order of the County Court in Warwick, with debts of more than £140,000.

Mr Sanghera, also known as Sukhwinderjit Singh Sanghera or Sukhwinder Singh Sanghera, had his affairs passed into the control of the Official Receiver and he was obliged to disclose all his assets to officials, including property.

He failed to mention, however, that he was the sole owner of a rental property in Coventry that generated a monthly income of £1,900.

Following investigations by the Official Receiver, the property was subsequently registered as an asset in Sukhi Sanghera’s estate.

The rental property was then sold, raising more than £70,000.

Bankruptcy restrictions are usually lifted after a year but, on August 15 2019, the Secretary of State accepted a ten-year bankruptcy restrictions undertaking from Mr Sanghera after he did not dispute that he failed to disclose the property to the Official Receiver.

Due to the restrictions, he is unable to borrow more than £500 without telling a lender he is bankrupt, he cannot act as a director of a company without the court’s permission and he is banned from being an elected councillor.

Kevin Read, Official Receiver for the Insolvency Service, said: "Sukhi Sanghera not only concealed a significant asset from the Official Receiver but also concealed its value from his creditors. He was completely prepared to leave them out of pocket.

"The ten-year extended bankruptcy restrictions we have secured reflect the severity of his actions and should serve as a warning to others to comply fully and openly with the bankruptcy process."