Vasile Hrusca withdrew more than £67,000 from his own failing building firm in 2019 to pay off the remaining balance on a hire purchase agreement for an Audi RS6 which he had bought the previous year for nearly £75,000.

The 40-year-old also sold seven diggers and other construction machinery which were still subject to hire purchase agreements with two separate banks to fund gambling.

Hrusca, of Ferndown, Hornchurch, was sentenced to 18 months in prison, suspended for two years, when he appeared at Snaresbrook Crown Court last week.

He was also disqualified as a company director for four years and ordered to complete 150 hours of unpaid work and 15 days of rehabilitation activity.

David Snasdell, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said:  “Vasile Hrusca knowingly removed company property prior to liquidation to pay off the remaining balance on a £75,000 Audi he had bought the previous year.

“He also sold diggers and other plant machinery held on hire purchase agreements when the products belonged to the banks, not to his company until they were paid for in full.

“These actions quite clearly are not what we expect of company directors and we will continue to take robust action against anyone who attempts to deprive creditors of such significant sums of money.”

Vasile Hrusca Ltd was incorporated in January 2007. The company described itself as being in the business of “other construction installation”.

Hrusca was the only active director at the time of the actions, listing his occupation as a builder.

His company entered into three hire purchase agreements over the course of 2018.

In January 2018, Hrusca bought a one-year-old Audi RS6 TFSI Quattro for £74,989. Hrusca paid a deposit of £7,500, with the remaining £67,489 funded by the bank through the hire purchase agreement.

Two months later, Hrusca signed hire purchase agreements with two separate banks for seven pieces of plant machinery, including mini-diggers, dumpers and excavators with a combined value of £89,256.

By 2019, Hrusca’s company was in financial difficulty and liquidators were appointed in September of that year.

But three months earlier, Hrusca had requested a settlement calculation for the hire purchase agreement on his Audi.

On the same day, his company paid £67,769 to clear the balance of the agreement in full.

Hrusca never settled his other hire purchase agreements. In interviews, he said he sold the machinery for cash and used the money for gambling.

He also failed to deliver books and records to the liquidator.