Bankrupt Tanveer Khan, 55, from Loughton in Essex, and his wife, Tasneem Khan, 51, originally set up Matz Medical Limited in 2013, running the business until it collapsed in October 2022, leaving trade creditors owed £37m.

Now the Khans have been banned for 23 years from acting as directors after defrauding the NHS out of £2.1m by faking contracts to secure non-existent business, said the Insolvency Service.

The Khans promoted Matz to potential investors as a ‘booming medical supply business’, which was about to fulfil a £9.8m order for intensive care unit beds for the NHS.

However, the order never existed, the directors used a fake contract to dupe investors into paying out £2.1m, believing they were delivering hundreds of hospital beds to an NHS hospital in Pontypool, South Wales.