The Sikh Channel’s DS Bal’s DBS Law Ltd financial woes continue

The founder and trustee of The Sikh Channel, Davinder Bal Singh (DS Bal) is facing allegations of mismanaging client’s funds at his company, DBS Law Limited.

DBS Law Limited fell into administration on 15th October 2018 after a company voluntary arrangement failed to pay back creditors. It is said that initially the firm had been making regular payments to creditors as prescribed in the agreement but has recently faced difficulties. The arrangement was terminated on 11th October 2018.

The amount of debt outstanding is reportedly said to be around the £684,000 mark, with 26 creditors listed in the document. HM Revenue & Customs was the biggest creditor, which is owed £281,000. A full statement is yet to be published by administrators Eric Walls and Wayne Harrison of KSA Group.

Furthermore, Bal was suspended from his solicitor duties. Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal confirmed that he has been suspended for one year as of 19th October 2018, with an additional cost order of £10,386. Bal’s practising certificate is also subject to scrutiny with restrictions applied for a further three years.

The Gazette reports that administrators were called in after Bal was suspended. The company continued trading at its offices in Birmingham and Nottingham. The report says that a potential buyer is said to be in line to takeover the business.

Law Gazette reports that Bal allegedly allowed a shortage of more than £100,000 to exist upon the client account of DBS Law Limited as of 30th October 2015, which remained unremedied at least a year later. The report adds that DBS Law received payment of £154,000 in commission over the course of four years, to the referral of clients from a claims management company.

It is not yet known at this stage if The Sikh Channel’s licence will be investigated.

The final SDT judgement is yet to be published. However, Bal will be given 21 days post that to appeal the decision.