A Birmingham fraudster who illegally claimed over £45,000 in Covid support loans has avoided jail after spending part of the money on personal luxuries including trips to a safari park, meals out, and paying off credit card debts.
Junaid Dar, 34, of Stratford Road, Birmingham, submitted three fraudulent applications for Bounce Back Loans during the height of the pandemic in 2020, despite businesses only being entitled to one.
The loans totalled £45,500 and were made through his fitness company, JDARPT Ltd, where he was the sole director.
Dar appeared at Wolverhampton Crown Court on Thursday 10 July, where he was sentenced to 20 months’ imprisonment, suspended for 18 months. He was also ordered to complete 180 hours of unpaid work, undertake 20 days of rehabilitation activity, and pay £2,400 in costs.
JDARPT Ltd, incorporated in March 2017 and registered as a fitness facility on Companies House, was used to secure the fraudulent loans. In May 2020, Dar first claimed £13,000 from one bank, stating the company had a turnover of £55,000. Just two days later, he applied for a second loan of £15,000 from a different bank, this time inflating the turnover to £60,000. By September 2020, Dar had submitted a third claim, this time for £17,500, falsely declaring a turnover of £70,000.
An investigation by the Insolvency Service revealed the company’s actual turnover was closer to £61,000.
While some of the money was used for legitimate business purposes, investigators found Dar had also used the funds for personal gain, including purchases from Amazon and Argos, spending at restaurants, meat stores, and West Midlands Safari Park, as well as repaying personal credit card debts.
JDARPT Ltd went into liquidation in July 2021. Dar was disqualified as a company director for 11 years in April 2022 due to his misconduct.
A spokesperson for the Insolvency Service said:
“The Bounce Back Loan Scheme was introduced to support genuine businesses during an unprecedented crisis. Abusing the scheme for personal enrichment is unacceptable and will be pursued with appropriate legal action.”