Two Glasgow-area company directors have been banned from running companies after their business imported more than 350,000 vapes disguised as medical equipment, leaving more than £15 million in unpaid taxes.
Kyle McGinness and Leanne Moynes, directors of YSK Enterprises Limited, have each been disqualified for nine years following an investigation involving the Insolvency Service, HM Revenue and Customs and Border Force.
Border Force intercepted a shipment of 352,688 vapes addressed to YSK Enterprises at Harwich in 2023. The goods had been labelled as medical nebulisers but were found to be e-cigarettes.
The company had imported large quantities of vapes from China between February and April 2023. According to the Insolvency Service, YSK Enterprises told HMRC it owed no VAT on the sales and failed to submit corporation tax returns.
HMRC calculated that the company owed almost £15 million in unpaid VAT and customs duty, together with a further £437,101 in corporation tax.
YSK Enterprises subsequently entered liquidation in 2024.
The investigation also identified problems with YSK Enterprises' accounting records.
The Insolvency Service said Moynes failed to preserve the company's records despite repeated requests from the liquidator. Investigators were consequently unable to verify what had happened to more than £1.6 million of company assets, including land, machinery and vehicles.
McGinness, 24, was disqualified as a company director for nine years in June 2026. Moynes, 37, received the same nine-year disqualification, with her ban taking effect on 13 August.
The restrictions prevent both from managing, forming or promoting a company without permission from a court.
The figures published by the Insolvency Service show that the company's tax liabilities exceeded £15 million overall.
HMRC calculated almost £15 million in unpaid VAT and customs duty, plus £437,101 in corporation tax. An exact combined figure cannot be calculated because the VAT and customs duty liability was published only as “almost £15 million”.
The more than £1.6 million of company assets that investigators could not verify is separate from those tax liabilities and should not be included in the tax figure.
Dave Magrath, Director of Investigation Services at the Insolvency Service, said McGinness and Moynes had gone to considerable lengths to disguise what the company was importing before telling HMRC that no tax was owed.
Richard Hopwood, Head of Insolvency Profession at HMRC, said the tax authority would continue working with the Insolvency Service and other partners to pursue businesses that refused to pay tax due.
Border Force, which intercepted the shipment at Harwich, said enforcement against illicit vapes was intended to protect legitimate businesses as well as consumers.
The two nine-year disqualifications mean McGinness and Moynes are now prevented from managing, forming or promoting companies without court permission, with both bans extending into 2035.
