Company director jailed for fraudulently claiming £300k in Covid-19 loans; spent on trips, Audi, school fees

A company director who was banned from running businesses fraudulently obtained £300,000 in Covid support loans and spent the money on family holidays, private school fees, and personal purchases, Daily Mail reported.Steven Brookes, 40, was sentenced to three years in prison after securing six Bounce Back Loans between May and October 2020 by using his wife Ria Brookes’ name without her knowledge.The court heard that Brookes had been disqualified from acting as a company director in 2010. Despite the ban, he applied for loans linked to five separate companies and falsely declared their turnover in order to obtain the funds.Prosecutor Nick Bonehill said the loan applications were fraudulent and that Brookes had dishonestly misrepresented the companies’ finances to secure the government-backed support.Instead of using the money for legitimate business purposes, Brookes spent large sums on personal expenses. The funds paid for family trips to Disneyland and Tenerife, around £7,000 in private school fees for his daughter at an independent school in Devon, and a new Audi for his wife.The court also heard he spent money on flowers, paint for a rental property, and purchases from retailer Boux Avenue.Judge Nathaniel Rudolf said there was “not much room for mercy” in the case, describing Brookes’ actions as “thoroughly dishonest”.According to the Insolvency Service, as cited by the newspaper, less than £7,500 of the £300,000 obtained through the fraudulent loans has been repaid.The Bounce Back Loan scheme was introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic to help businesses affected by lockdown restrictions and economic disruption.