A south London hotelier has been sentenced for fraudulently claiming £450,000 in Covid support funds.
Richard Courtenay, 62, of Larpent Avenue in Wandsworth, made nine false applications for Bounce Back Loans at the height of the pandemic for five separate companies.
Courtenay dishonestly inflated company turnovers, secured multiple loans for the same business, and used the funds for personal purposes.
Despite only repaying the money when investigated by the Insolvency Service, Courtenay was handed a suspended sentence of three years at Southwark Crown Court last Thursday (September 3).
He was ordered to complete 150 hours of unpaid work, and attend 10 days of rehabilitation activity.
His fraudulent activities took place between May and June 2020, involving Hotel Belgravia Limited, Belgravia Rooms Limited, Lebex Limited, Directlingua Limited, and Belgravia Accommodation Ltd.
Courtenay made false turnover declarations and applied for multiple loans, despite businesses being allowed only one.
The funds were swiftly moved into his personal accounts or the bank accounts of his other companies.
Courtenay pleaded guilty to nine counts of fraud and one count of money laundering in July this year.
Courtenay's first fraudulent application was for Hotel Belgravia Limited, a company incorporated in January 2020 with Courtenay as its sole director.
Courtenay then applied for a Bounce Back Loan for Belgravia Rooms Limited, falsely declaring its turnover as £400,000, with the funds again transferred into his personal bank accounts.
Exactly one month later, he made a second fraudulent application for the same company, again declaring the £400,000 turnover and falsely stating it was the company's only Bounce Back Loan application.
The money again went to his personal accounts and other businesses.
Courtenay fraudulently secured £200,000 in Bounce Back Loan funds from four separate banks for Lebex Limited between mid-May and late-June, inconsistently declaring turnovers of £600,000, £500,000, and finally £400,000.
He again falsely declared he had not already received a loan for the company.
The funds were misused in a similar pattern, moved into his personal accounts, his other companies, and used to purchase cryptoassets.
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David Snasdell, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said Courtenay's actions showed a determination to exploit a system vulnerable to fraud, driven by greed.
He added: "Courtenay has shown limited remorse, denied any dishonesty and blamed the banks for him not keeping up with his repayments.
"His actions were dishonest when the scheme relied on the complete honesty of business owners while the country was in the grip of a pandemic.
"The Insolvency Service has a proven track record in tackling Bounce Back Loan fraud and we will continue to ensure fraudsters like Courtenay are held to account for taking advantage of support intended to help businesses when they needed it most."
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