During the last year more than 800 company directors have been disqualified for abusing Covid support schemes following investigations by the Insolvency Service, taking the total banned since 2021 to more than 1,400.
They include Huddersfield man Richard Ward, who signed a 12-year disqualification undertaking in June 2023.
Ward, 42, of North Cross Road, Huddersfield, applied for three Bounce Back Loans worth a combined £120,000 in the summer of 2020 on behalf of Colt House Event Management Ltd, Colt House Developers Ltd, and Colt House Bloodstock Ltd.
He claimed the companies ran corporate hospitality golf events, developed a large residential property in Huddersfield and purchased foals for future sale.
However, investigations by the Insolvency Service revealed none of the companies had any income in their bank accounts before receiving the loans. Ward also transferred at least £105,000 of the funds to his own account for his personal use.
During 2023-24, a total of 831 directors were banned for Covid financial support scheme misconduct, with an average disqualification length of more than nine-and-a-half years.
Dean Beale, Chief Executive at the Insolvency Service, said: “Tackling Bounce Back Loan misconduct is a key priority for the Insolvency Service and we are determined to use all our available powers to remove rogue company directors from the corporate arena.
“It is important the Insolvency Service is taking such robust action to clamp down on directors who abused Covid support schemes and took from the public purse during the worst global pandemic for 100 years.
“We have teams dedicated solely to investigating Bounce Back Loan misconduct that are committed to taking action against those who provided misleading information to receive money they were not entitled to.”
The Covid Bounce Back Loan Scheme was introduced at the start of the pandemic in 2020. It helped small and medium-sized businesses borrow between £2,000 and £50,000 at a low interest rate, guaranteed by the government.
Businesses were entitled to a single loan of up to 25% of their turnover under the scheme. Individuals could use the loans only for the economic benefit of the business and not for personal purposes.
