‘He is a shadow of what he was…it is difficult to imagine a further fall from grace’
21:31, 12 Jun 2026Updated 07:28, 13 Jun 2026
Stills from Channel 5 documentary ‘Rich Kids Go Skint’ filmed in 2019. (Image: Channel 5)
Versace furniture; a fleet of Bentleys, Mercedes and Rolls Royces; a Swarovski-studded Allah written in Arabic script. This is a tour around the Cheshire home of 19-year-old Adil, filmed for Channel 5 series Rich Kids Go Skint in 2019.
“This rich kid going skint is the son of a self-made millionaire,” beams the voiceover as shots pan around the lavishly furnished living room, gold Versace medusa heads grinning from every corner.
“Adil couldn’t wait to leave school and join his dad’s property empire. He was instantly made a director.”
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The producers couldn’t have known, then, that this fact would come up in a Crown court sentencing hearing, seven years later.
For this decision wasn’t a ringing endorsement of Adil’s business acumen, but rather a move by his father to ‘persistently, deliberately and cynically’ use members of his family as a cover for the fact that he was still managing his businesses – despite having been banned from doing so seven years earlier.
“You made use of two people who trusted you, whom you used,” Judge Peter Horgan told Tariq Sarwar as he jailed him for four years on Friday (June 12). “Your wife, who suffers health issues, and your son, who was a young man at the time.”
Tariq Sarwar(Image: Manchester Evening News)
Sarwar, 59, of Gore Lane in Alderley Edge, pleaded guilty to one count of fraud anticipating winding up, and two counts of acting in contravention of a disqualification order. He had been banned from acting as director of a company in 2013.
“At the time, his company owed at least £1.6 million to creditors,” a spokesperson for the Insolvency Service said on Friday, who led the investigation. “Yet he arranged for more than a quarter of a million pounds to be paid to his personal benefit from an insurance claim. The company went into administration less than eight weeks after this payment.”
But shortly after receiving the ban, Sarwar set up two more property management companies in his wife Zarka’s name – and made his son Adil a director of one of these in 2018, shortly after he turned 18.
The Sarwar family living room pictured in Channel 5 documentary ‘Rich Kids Go Skint’ filmed in 2019. (Image: Channel 5)
“His wife was unwell and his son lacked experience,” prosecutor Laura Kenyon told the court. “He took out loans in their names. There was substantial financial risk to them.”
These activities included the purchase of Langley Mill Business Park in Salford for £1.5 million in 2014, financed with a loan, and the old police station on Lee Street in Stockport, purchased for £630,000 and mortgaged with a £600k loan.
More ‘large-scale refinancing’ followed, including a £945k loan in January 2019 secured against the assets of TNS Properties, another company of which Zarka and Adil were listed directors.
Throughout, the family led a lavish lifestyle in the Cheshire countryside, in a six-bedroom house with a fleet of cars worth hundreds of thousands of pounds and a gardener, housekeeper and chauffeur, according to the documentary.
But by 2018, Sarwar’s companies owed ‘substantial debts’ to creditors, including £134,000 to HMRC, who began a winding-up petition – where the business is shut down and assets liquidated – in March 2018. Just three months later, Langley Mill Business Park was sold for £5.1 million.
Most creditors were paid off, apart from HMRC and one of Mr Sarwar’s business partners, who were still owed around £500k, the court heard.
But within nine days of the sale, he instructed his solicitors to transfer over £3 million to a food and drink wholesaler, KYCA, so that ‘there were no assets left’ by the time winding-up was complete in July.
Its sole director Christopher Francis, 40, of Peacock Lane, Aylesbury, was handed a suspended sentence on Friday after pleading guilty to money laundering.
Christopher Francis(Image: Manchester Evening News)
Under Sarwar’s instruction, Francis transferred hundreds of thousands of pounds to a total of six other companies, including around £645k to companies ‘clearly linked’ to the Sarwar family.
The total £3 million was later declared void by HMRC, whose liquidators formally sued Zarka Sarwar and settled for a £280k payment.
Mr Sarwar was also sued by a creditor and forced to pay back £200k, the court heard. The Insolvency Service said HMRC were eventually fully repaid and other creditors received a limited return on what they owed, with investigations underway to confiscate remaining funds.
During his sentencing hearing, Mr Sarwar’s barrister Andrew Horsell said he had ‘dragged himself up by his boot straps’ and ‘supported his wife and sons in their lifestyle’.
“He is in somewhat of a precarious position, he has debts and could lose his family home.” Addressing Judge Peter Morgan, he continued: “You have a photo of him at the time this was committed…look to the dock.
“Financially and physically he is a shadow of what he was. It is difficult to imagine a further fall from grace and such a loss of face.
“He was respected…all that is gone. For him to do unpaid work, scrubbing graffiti or picking litter, makes that fall from grace all but complete. I submit that public humiliation would be sufficient punishment.”
But presiding judge Peter Horgan rejected this assertion, jailing Sarwar for a total of four years for both offences, of which he is expected to serve 40 percent.
“You suggest that you knew about the disqualification order but did not take it seriously; and that you were simply supporting your wife and son,” he told Sarwar, who was casually dressed in a black hoodie as his family watched on.
Tariq Sarwar(Image: Manchester Evening News)
“You were a very experienced and successful businessman and knew exactly what you should not be doing. These were sophisticated arrangements which you then took active steps to distance yourself from.
“You demonstrated a real arrogance, believing you could do whatever you wanted and choosing to ignore the order, not following rules or listening to advice but doing what you wanted to do.
“Your wife has long standing health difficulties which you provide some assistance for. She said she had no idea about the disqualification order and blamed it on a former employee claiming they were blackmailing her.
“She may have been duped by you. You are described as intelligent and successful, managing the mortgage of yourself and other family members. You have a large and tight-knit family support network, but you put your wife and son at risk of reputational harm.”
Sarwar gave no reaction as he was jailed, and made no remarks to the half-dozen family and associates in the public gallery as he went with the dock officer.