Edlesborough fraudster convicted after spending Covid loan on gambling and cryptocurrency
A man who used a Covid loan for his business, to gamble and boost his cryptocurrency portfolio, has been convicted.
Haralombos Ioannou, aged 49, of Cow Lane, Edlesborough, was given a suspended jail sentence of 22 months at Southwark Crown Court on Tuesday (October 7).
He was also ordered to pay £40,000 in compensation, complete 150 hours of unpaid work, and was disqualified from working as a company director for five years.
During the pandemic he was the director for a glazing firm and secured two Government bounce back loans for the business. The court heard that a significant amount of the second fund went on gambling and crypto investments.
In 2020, he secured two loans under the business support scheme, despite knowing they were limited to one per business.
It has been revealed that his first loan was used correctly to support his glass-fitting company, Opti-Bond (GB) Ltd.
David Snasdell, chief investigator at the Insolvency Service, said: "Haralambos Ioannou exploited the Bounce Back Loan Scheme by fraudulently applying for a second Bounce Back Loan when companies could apply for one loan of up to £50,000 for support during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“He not only fraudulently applied for a second loan but then spent it on activities which had nothing to do with his company’s operations such as gambling, crypto-investments, cash withdrawals and payments to his then partner.
“The Insolvency Service remains committed to taking robust action against those who abused the Bounce Back Loan Scheme. Government-backed schemes were a lifeline for businesses during the pandemic, and we will continue to pursue those who deliberately exploited this support at the taxpayers’ expense.”
Ioannou was the sole director of the company which was launched in late 2019. The Insolvency Service has revealed that he submitted an application for a first loan of £50,000 in May 2020, stating his company’s 2019 turnover was £216,000.
He then submitted an application for a second loan of £50,000, but this time declared Opti-Bond’s turnover in 2019 was £236,000.
Ioannou received the £100,000 within an eight-day period between late June and early July 2020.
It has been discovered that upon receiving the second loan the former director made transactions worth approximately £20,000 through his personal account and put down payments totalling around £25,000 with gambling companies.