The director of a Wolverhampton joinery installation business has been banned for 10 years after fraudulently claiming a £50,000 bounce back loan
James Alexander, director of Ebstree Solutions Limited, falsified his income when he applied for a maximum bounce back loan of £50,000 within weeks of the covid support scheme being launched by the government on 4 May 2020 during the pandemic.
When Alexander submitted the bounce back loan application he used an overstated turnover figure, resulting in Ebstree receiving more funds than it was eligible for.
The company was set up in February 2016 and had last filed accounts for a dormant business for the period ending 31 March 2019.
Two weeks after the launch of the scheme, on 21 May 2020, Alexander submitted a bounce back loan application in which he claimed that Ebstree’s turnover was £212,000.
However, accounts filed covering the period from 1 March 2018 to 31 March 2019 showed the company’s turnover was £7,490 and for the year ended 31 March 2020 turnover was shown as £33,187.
Therefore, the company was not eligible for a bounce back loan of £50,000. As a result of the overstatement of turnover in the application, Alexander borrowed at least £41,703 more than he was entitled to.
The company was dissolved in July 2023 and administrators from Fortis Insolvency were appointed.
The bank lender’s claim in the liquidation was £50,113 for the outstanding fraudulent loan. Alexander also owed HMRC £5,134 in corporation tax and employer’s national insurance.
Under the bounce back scheme, businesses were entitled to borrow between £2,000 and £50,000, up to a maximum of 25% of turnover in the calendar year 2019.
Alexander has been banned for 10 years from acting as a director.