Fraudsters who pocketed almost £60,000 after ‘abusing’ a Covid loan scheme for struggling businesses have been punished. Junaid Dar and David Michael Godderidge both falsely applied for tens of thousands of pounds after duping government officials into thinking they were entitled to support.
They have now been banned from running companies after deceitfully claiming cash as part of the national Bounce Back Loan Scheme – which helped smaller business access cash quicker during the Coronavirus outbreak. Sue Macleod for the Insolvency Service, said: “Bounce Back Loans were made available for trading businesses adversely affected by the pandemic and were issued based on accurate financial statements.
“Both Dar and Godderidge cynically applied for loans far greater than they were entitled to and clearly thought they could get away it. Thankfully our interventions uncovered their abuse and their restrictions will prevent them from abusing their position in the future.”
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Dar, from Birmingham, was investigated by the Insolvency Service after his company JDarPT Ltd entered into liquidation last July. Investigators discovered Dar legitimately applied for a loan after submitting accurate financial statements and received £13,000 in May 2020.
But the 31-year-old gym operator also applied for extra loans at two separate financial institutions. The company received in total a…
