Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s mysterious loan to the firm then handed Covid holiday pay

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Labor Deputy Leader Angela Rayner has urged Rishi Sunak to give details of a mysterious loan he made to a company. It comes after the Chancellor was fined this week over the Partygate scandal

Rishi Sunak has come under further pressure over a mysterious loan he made to a firm that later benefited from Covid support.

Accounts filed with Companies House up to 2019 show the Chancellor was owed £652,499 from Catamaran Ventures, his wife Akshata Murty’s venture capital firm.

But in September, Ms Murty claimed the loan had been transferred to her five years earlier.

However, she had signed three accounts that said otherwise and that her husband remained a “long-term creditor.”

Labor Deputy Leader Angela Rayner called for answers over the loan from Mr Sunak, who was fined this week over the Partygate scandal.

She said: “It looks like more than sloppy bookkeeping.

Rishi Sunak must explain this financial mess and prove if and when the loan was returned. If he cannot do that, the serious question arises as to whether the chancellor, at best, also violated these rules and, at worst, profited privately from chum investments.”

A spokeswoman for Ms Murty said: “The transfer took place correctly in 2015 but was not correctly reflected until later accounts due to an administrative error.” But she would not confirm whether there were any records from 2015 to show it did take place .

Richard Murphy, Professor of Accounting at Sheffield University, said: “It is the duty of a director of a company to keep proper records.

“In this case, it appears that the company either did not do so or did not properly reflect those records on its books from 2016 to 2018.” In either case, this is a fatal error. There should have been a record in 2015 when Sunak transferred the loan.”

Mr Sunak and his wife founded Catamaran Ventures in 2013 and lent the company money to invest in UK companies. He resigned as director in 2015 when he was elected MP.

But company accounts for 2016 through 2018 show he remained a creditor. Last September, Ms Murty filed new accounts for 2019, stating she was the sole creditor.

She told officials the loan was “transferred” to her in 2015, but admitted the next three accounts didn’t “make it clear.” Catamaran has invested in companies claiming holiday pay.

These include gym company Digme Fitness, social club Lava Club Mayfair and educational publisher Mrs Wordsmith.

Mr. Sunak and his wife hoped to make money by earning dividends from companies in which their company invested or by selling investments for a profit.