We’re now 5 years on from the pandemic and cases of Covid-19 Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) related fraud show no sign of slowing down. A further 8 cases were reported in the last 3 months.

We continue our coverage on the Insolvency Service’s initiative to uncover financial wrongdoing connected to the Bounce Back Loan Scheme.

Bankruptcies and bans

Joseph Harrison, a car dealer from Wrotham, Kent, and director of Southeast Commercials Ltd, has been banned from acting as a company director for 12 years starting 6^th May 2025, after abusing the Covid Bounce Back Loan Scheme. Harrison’s company applied for and received 2 £45,000 loans in 2020, violating scheme rules that limited businesses to 1 loan. Investigations revealed that Harrison falsely declared the second loan application as the company’s first.

His company, which sold used cars and motor vehicles, was later dissolved in January 2025. Harrison claimed the first loan application was submitted by a third party, but no evidence supported this. He has been ordered to repay £38,295 remaining from the second loan.

Carl Barnes, the director of Central Plumbing & Heating Lincoln Ltd, has been disqualified as a company director for 11 years after fraudulently obtaining a £47,500 Covid Bounce Back Loan. Barnes falsely claimed that his company had a turnover of £340,000 in 2019, when its actual turnover was £0. Central Plumbing & Heating Lincoln Ltd, incorporated in April 2016, had filed dormant accounts for several years after initially posting a small profit in its first year.

Insolvency Service investigations revealed Barnes’s dishonesty in exploiting the Bounce Back Loan Scheme, which was intended to support small businesses during the pandemic. The company went into liquidation in October 2022, and Barnes’s director disqualification was made official on 17^th April 2025, beginning on 8^th May 2025.

Romain McLean, a management consultant and sole director of RMC Associates Limited in Wimbledon, has been banned from serving as a director for 11 years following fraudulent activities related to the COVID Bounce Back Loan scheme. McLean deceitfully secured 2 loans totalling £80,000 by significantly overstating his company’s turnover on 2 occasions. Initially, in May 2020, he applied for and received £30,000, despite his company being entitled to only around £12,000, based on its authentic turnover which he inflated by over £100,000. Subsequently, in July 2020, McLean wrongfully secured an additional £50,000 by falsely claiming it was his sole application and overstating his turnover once again.

During the Insolvency Service investigation, McLean admitted to exaggerating his turnover to maximise the loan amounts, expressing a desire to get as much money as he could. As a result of the investigation, he agreed to an 11-year disqualification from acting as a company director, which began on 30^th May 2025, and offered a £60,000 settlement repayment.

RMC Associates Limited, founded in 2008, faced a winding-up petition in 2023.

Suspended

Gary Wright, a former pub landlord from St Helens, applied for a £25,000 Bounce Back Loan in 2020 to support his business during the pandemic, but failed to disclose that he was bankrupt at the time. Wright owned the Talbot Ale House, which ceased trading in 2019. He was declared bankrupt in February 2020 due to debts owed to a utility company but applied for the loan in June 2020, falsely claiming the pub’s turnover was £400,000. Bankrupt individuals are legally required to disclose their status when applying for loans exceeding £500.

Wright repaid the loan in full prior to sentencing but was handed a suspended 2-year prison sentence at Liverpool Crown Court on 24^th April 2023. He was also ordered to complete 150 hours of unpaid work and pay £1,500 in costs. Wright remains an undischarged bankrupt, meaning he is still subject to bankruptcy restrictions.

Rico Iheagwara, a 36-year-old recruitment consultant from Hertfordshire, has been sentenced to an 18-month suspended prison term for fraudulently obtaining £40,000 in Bounce Back Loans during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. His company, SJR Recruitment Limited, was not operational at the time he applied for 2 separate £20,000 loans, against the rules that permitted only 1 loan per business. Following his court appearance at St Albans Crown Court on 16 May, Iheagwara was also mandated to complete 120 hours of unpaid work and 15 days of rehabilitation activities.

SJR Recruitment Limited, incorporated in January 2017 and directed solely by Iheagwara, was later liquidated in April 2021 with over £67,000 in liabilities. Investigations revealed Iheagwara transferred the loan amounts to his personal account immediately upon receipt, using them for personal expenses, including rent and family support, rather than for business purposes as intended by the loan scheme. The Insolvency Service is actively seeking to recover the misappropriated funds under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.

Jagoda Rubaszko, a 37-year-old woman from Northolt, was found guilty of fraudulently claiming a £50,000 Covid Bounce Back Loan by inventing a non-existent administrative service business. Despite claiming a business turnover of £210,000, investigations revealed her actual tax returns were no higher than £15,100 annually between 2019 and 2021. Rubaszko admitted to being influenced by a man named Daniel, whom she could not prove exists, to apply for the loan and falsely declare bankruptcy to evade repayment.

She received the loan on 28^th April 2021, after applying on 26^th April 2021, claiming her business started on 1^st March 2020. Instead of utilising the funds for business purposes, she transferred £50,000 in 22 smaller amounts to 5 different bank accounts in Poland over 2 months. These actions were in stark contrast to her declaration of paying Daniel a £17,500 commission, for which no evidence was found in her bank records.

For her fraudulent actions, Rubaszko was sentenced to 18 months in prison, suspended for 21 months, coupled with a 6-month curfew and a requirement to complete 175 hours of unpaid work. Subsequently, she was subjected to a 10-year Bankruptcy Restrictions Undertaking (BRU), effective until 2033, which limits her ability to manage a limited company.

Zahid Afzal, the director of Phone Bits Ltd and Phones Onn Ltd, which operate mobile phone shops in the UK, received a 2-year suspended sentence for fraudulently claiming £150,000 in COVID-19 Bounce Back loans. Initially, Afzal secured legitimate loans totalling £52,500 for his 2 businesses. However, he subsequently applied for 3 additional loans of £50,000 each by falsely claiming they were the first loan applications and inflating his companies’ turnovers.

Afzal transferred most of the fraudulent funds to his personal accounts, despite claiming the money was for business purposes. He was sentenced at Swansea Crown Court on 12^th June 2025 for 3 counts of fraud by false representation. The Insolvency Service is now working to recover the funds under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.

Sentenced

Shohid Ahmed, a 40-year-old man from Bradford, was sentenced to 2 years in prison for fraudulently securing £100,000 in Bounce Back Loans. Ahmed used his wife’s identity to apply for 3 loans for his Indian restaurant, Red Square Restaurants Limited, despite not being the company’s named director and having previously claimed the business was no longer trading.

Ahmed also attempted to mislead investigators by using the personal details of a woman who was his father’s tenant, falsely registering her as the director of his company. He further produced a fake invoice for £15,000, claiming it was for a restaurant refurbishment.

He pleaded guilty to several offences and has only repaid £5,000 of the fraudulently obtained funds. The Insolvency Service is pursuing the recovery of the remaining money under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. Despite his claims, investigations found that the loan money was not used for the benefit of the business as required by the loan scheme. Ahmed was already disqualified from acting as a company director for 11 years due to his misconduct.

Insolvency and debt investigations

Seeing the whole picture in insolvency and debt cases is key to maximising returns to creditors. For more information on how ESA Risk can help to identify hidden assets or locate targets who have gone to ground, contact Mike Wright, Investigations and Risk Management Consultant, at advice@esarisk.com, on +44 (0)343 515 8686 or via our contact form.

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