450+ Directors Banned Over Pandemic Loan Scams
The Insolvency Service disqualified 459 directors in 2022-23 for ripping off COVID-19 financial support schemes. That’s almost half of all 932 disqualifications handed out last year. The average ban length has jumped too — up to seven years and four months, from five years ten months the year before.
Fraudsters Face Jail and Long Bans
The crackdown isn’t just civil; six directors landed criminal prosecutions for pandemic loan cheats, with one jailed immediately. Dave Magrath, Director of Investigation and Enforcement at the Insolvency Service, warned:
“These fraudsters are just the latest to find out that we will not hesitate to take firm action where we uncover such abuse, and this can ultimately result in a jail sentence.
The purpose of the Bounce Back Loan scheme was to support businesses during the pandemic, but it is clear a minority of company directors chose to maliciously abuse the scheme and defraud the taxpayer. Our team of experts continue to work round-the-clock to bring these criminals to justice.”
Three Cases That Show How They Did It
- Bahar Dag and Husband Baris Dagistan: St Albans Crown Court jailed Bahar for 2.5 years and Baris for 2 years after they fraudulently claimed a £50,000 Bounce Back Loan. Bahar claimed their turnover was £200,000 but it was closer to £40,000. They repaid the loan only after being caught by investigators.
- Jubelur Rohman: The Wrexham-based director of Better Day Ltd was slapped with an 11-year ban. Investigators found his business had stopped trading in October 2019, months before the March 2020 eligibility cutoff. Yet he still grabbed a £50,000 loan. After liquidation with debts over £150,000, Rohman was caught funneling over £40,000 cash from the company account with no proof it helped the business.
- Craig McCourt: The Ross-shire electrical firm boss got an 11-year ban after applying for two Bounce Back Loans despite his company having ceased trading in September 2019. He dissolved the company in October 2020, with nearly all of the £20,000 loan unpaid. McCourt moved the money into different accounts and even applied for a £5,000 top-up loan after dissolution—breaking the rules and cheating the taxpayer.
Stronger Powers to Punish Loan Cheats
New powers introduced in December 2021 allowed the Insolvency Service to investigate directors of dissolved companies like McCourt’s, blocking their attempts to dodge repayments. The bans on Rohman and McCourt stop them from managing any company without court approval.
The message is clear: try to play the system, and the Insolvency Service will catch you, ban you for years, and possibly send you to jail.
