A Bradford man who raked in £100,000 in Covid support loans using dodgy documents and his wife’s name has been ordered to pay back £123,000 – five years after the fraudulent cash landed in his pocket.
Slick Scam with Fake Directors and False Invoices
Shohid Ahmed, 41, of Bardsey Crescent, Bradford, took out three Bounce Back Loans totalling £150,000 in 2020, claiming to run Red Square Restaurants Limited, trading as Ruby’s Lounge in Mirfield. He boosted his chances by putting his wife’s name on the applications due to her better credit record. Two loans were approved, delivering £100,000.
Only £15,000 has been repaid in almost six years. Ahmed pulled a fast one by filing fake paperwork to Companies House naming an unrelated woman — who merely rented a property from his dad — as company director. He downplayed his role as a waiter earning £12,000 a year while claiming the woman managed the restaurant and the accounts. She knew nothing about it.
To cover his tracks, Ahmed forged an invoice supposedly showing £15,000 spent on refurbishments by an interior design firm in Stockton-on-Tees. Investigators found the address belonged to a café trading there for 37 years, with no connection to any design company.
Contradictions and Convictions
Ahmed also contradicted himself by applying to have the company struck off in April 2020, declaring it hadn’t traded for three months, just weeks before claiming the restaurant was still running for loan purposes.
The fraudster pleaded guilty to offences under the Fraud Act 2006, Companies Act 2006, and Insolvency Act 1986. He was sentenced to two years in prison at Bradford Crown Court last May and was already banned as a company director for 11 years due to this misconduct.
Confiscation Order and Tough Warnings
On 12 March, Bradford Crown Court slapped Ahmed with a confiscation order for £123,000 plus £6,000 costs, with three months to pay. Failing to pay, he faces an extra 15 months inside. But the debt will still stand.
“Those who steal from the public purse should be in no doubt that we will come for the fraudulently-obtained money,” warned Alexander Grierson, Head of Asset Recovery at the Insolvency Service. “A prison sentence is not the end of the matter.”
Meanwhile, a new restaurant now operates at the same Mirfield address under a different name, with Ahmed having no ties to the current business.
