A director has been ordered to repay over £50,000 to the public purse after fraudulently obtaining a bounce back loan despite turnover of only £4,000.
Marian Ghimpu, from Croydon, fraudulently acquired the maximum amount of £50,000 available through the bounce back loan scheme.
The director took out the loan in October 2020 despite his company only being eligible for a loan of £2,000, which was the minimum amount available.
His company, Deea Construct Ltd, showed no activity for a year up to the point when he claimed the loan, and only a handful of small transactions totalling just over £4,000 from a construction firm in the summer of 2019. However, he told his bank his company’s turnover was £200,000.
After receiving the loan into the company account, Ghimpu transferred over £40,000 to himself and took the rest out in cash withdrawals.
He then put the company into liquidation in April 2021, which ultimately triggered an investigation by the Insolvency Service.
As efforts to recoup the loan money by the liquidator were not successful, the Insolvency Service sought a compensation order against Ghimpu in court.
He was handed a compensation order of £52,163 on 25 July 2023 at the High Court of Justice. He was given five weeks to pay this.
Nina Cassar, deputy head of investigations at the Insolvency Service, said: ‘Marian Ghimpu’s actions, providing false information to the bank, allowed Deea Construct Ltd, and himself, to have an unfair advantage over other businesses impacted by Covid-19.
‘Abuse of taxpayers’ money will not be tolerated and I am delighted we have secured this compensation order. Where there have been similar cases of abuse by the company director, we will be seeking further compensation orders and disqualifications.’
Ghimpu was handed both the compensation order and a director disqualification for 13 years.
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